Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Releases FY24 Earnings Guidance

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) issued an update on its FY24 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of $0.99-$1.01 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $0.99. Wendy’s also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 0.990-1.010 EPS.

Wendy’s Price Performance

Shares of WEN traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $19.66. The stock had a trading volume of 4,384,974 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,521,588. The company’s 50-day moving average is $18.03 and its 200 day moving average is $17.72. The company has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.80. Wendy’s has a 12-month low of $15.61 and a 12-month high of $20.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.01.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25. The firm had revenue of $566.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $560.50 million. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 67.74% and a net margin of 9.18%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Wendy’s will post 0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.09%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WEN. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Wendy’s from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Wendy’s from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.36.

Insider Activity at Wendy’s

In related news, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.18, for a total transaction of $17,180,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,943,466 shares in the company, valued at $256,728,745.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 17.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Wendy’s

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.