The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Receives $13.87 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty-three ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have assigned a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and three have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $13.7632.

WEN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Friday. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Guggenheim lowered shares of Wendy’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $13.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Wendy’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th.

Insider Activity at Wendy’s

In other Wendy’s news, CMO Lindsay J. Radkoski purchased 5,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $11.68 per share, with a total value of $58,984.00. Following the acquisition, the chief marketing officer owned 28,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $338,206.08. This represents a 21.12% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 17.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Wendy’s

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Wendy’s by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,577,359 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $37,707,000 after buying an additional 142,500 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Wendy’s by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,767,723 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $99,012,000 after buying an additional 464,444 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Wendy’s by 22.6% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 200,375 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,931,000 after buying an additional 36,954 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the 1st quarter worth about $1,084,000. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the 1st quarter worth about $326,000. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wendy’s Stock Up 0.2%

WEN stock opened at $10.57 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.31. Wendy’s has a 52 week low of $9.74 and a 52 week high of $20.60. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $10.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 28.74.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.04. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 103.07%. The company had revenue of $560.93 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $558.95 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Wendy’s will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.3%. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is 58.33%.

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.