Wendy’s Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:WEN)

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors acquired 11,458 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 73% compared to the average daily volume of 6,613 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays decreased their target price on Wendy’s from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Wendy’s from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $17.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wendy’s

In other news, insider Abigail E. Pringle sold 136,819 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.81, for a total value of $1,752,651.39. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 203,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,600,494.05. This represents a 40.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 17.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the 4th quarter worth about $1,733,000. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new position in Wendy’s during the 4th quarter worth about $357,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Wendy’s in the fourth quarter valued at $4,318,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $13,358,000. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Wendy’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,921,000. Institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Wendy’s Trading Down 5.2 %

Shares of WEN opened at $11.87 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.83. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $13.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.76. The stock has a market cap of $2.33 billion, a PE ratio of 12.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.40. Wendy’s has a 12 month low of $11.75 and a 12 month high of $20.60.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 75.56% and a net margin of 8.65%. The company had revenue of $523.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $530.11 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.23 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Wendy’s will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is presently 59.57%.

Wendy’s Company Profile

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.