Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Given “Neutral” Rating at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated their neutral rating on shares of Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) in a report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $9.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock, down from their previous price target of $12.00.

WEN has been the subject of several other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Wendy’s from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 20th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Wendy’s from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Wendy’s from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $11.00 to $9.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wendy’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.64.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

Shares of WEN stock opened at $8.56 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 26.89, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.39. Wendy’s has a one year low of $7.83 and a one year high of $18.07. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $8.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.08.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $442.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $535.75 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.43% and a return on equity of 125.74%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.25 EPS. Wendy’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.820-0.890 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Wendy’s will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is presently 59.57%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wendy’s

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Trivium Point Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 13,618 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $199,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Wendy’s by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 19,697 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 1,036 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Wendy’s by 25.8% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 5,069 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,038 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in Wendy’s by 35.0% during the second quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,017 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Wendy’s by 25.2% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,336 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares during the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.