Wendy’s’ (WEN) “Equal Weight” Rating Reiterated at Stephens

Stephens reaffirmed their equal weight rating on shares of Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $20.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock.

WEN has been the topic of several other research reports. Gordon Haskett cut Wendy’s from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $21.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Wendy’s from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays downgraded Wendy’s from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Wendy’s from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and cut their price target for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $22.60.

Wendy’s Price Performance

Shares of WEN stock opened at $19.94 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.21. The company has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.78. Wendy’s has a twelve month low of $17.64 and a twelve month high of $23.90. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.05.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.02. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 62.68% and a net margin of 9.44%. The business had revenue of $534.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $540.84 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Wendy’s will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 3rd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 102.04%.

Insider Transactions at Wendy’s

In other news, Director Kenneth W. Gilbert sold 4,500 shares of Wendy’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.07, for a total value of $81,315.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 31,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $565,663.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 17.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wendy’s

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its holdings in Wendy’s by 378.0% in the 1st quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 1,568 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 1,240 shares in the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Wendy’s by 243.3% in the 1st quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC now owns 255,069 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,806,000 after buying an additional 180,772 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in Wendy’s by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 15,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 801 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Wendy’s by 159.2% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 59,356 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,118,000 after buying an additional 36,456 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prosperity Consulting Group LLC bought a new stake in Wendy’s in the 1st quarter worth about $379,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Wendy’s Company Profile

The Wendy's Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a quick-service restaurant company in the United States and internationally. It operates through Wendy's U.S., Wendy's International, and Global Real Estate & Development segments. The company is involved in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants specializing in hamburger sandwiches.