Stephens Reiterates Equal Weight Rating for Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN)

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reiterated by investment analysts at Stephens in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $15.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock. Stephens’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 17.28% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WEN. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Argus raised Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Wendy’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.08.

Wendy’s Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ WEN opened at $12.79 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48. Wendy’s has a 12 month low of $12.05 and a 12 month high of $20.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $14.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.43.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 75.56%. The business had revenue of $574.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $564.17 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Wendy’s will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WEN. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 25,529 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in Wendy’s by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 57,400 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $979,000 after buying an additional 797 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in Wendy’s by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 15,634 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the period. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Wendy’s by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,107 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 985 shares during the period. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Wendy’s by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 11,232 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $183,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

About Wendy’s

The Wendy’s Co engages in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants. It operates through the following segments: Wendy’s U.S., Wendy’s International, and Global Real Estate and Development. The Wendy’s U.S. segment includes the operation and franchising of Wendy’s restaurants in the U.S.