Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Price Target Raised to $16.00 at Wedbush

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) had its target price upped by Wedbush from $15.50 to $16.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. Wedbush currently has a neutral rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

WEN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Wendy’s from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Wendy’s from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Wendy’s from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wendy’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.93.

Wendy’s Price Performance

Wendy’s stock opened at $14.30 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $15.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.11. Wendy’s has a 1 year low of $13.72 and a 1 year high of $20.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.10.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 70.02%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Wendy’s will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is 105.26%.

Institutional Trading of Wendy’s

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WEN. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in Wendy’s by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 52,429 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $855,000 after acquiring an additional 2,339 shares in the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in Wendy’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $622,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its position in Wendy’s by 127.7% in the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 94,322 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,537,000 after acquiring an additional 52,898 shares in the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Wendy’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $279,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Wendy’s by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,575,420 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,679,000 after acquiring an additional 308,142 shares in the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wendy’s Company Profile

The Wendy’s Co engages in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants. It offers hamburgers and related products, such as chicken breast sandwiches, nuggets, chili, and baked potatoes, French fries, freshly prepared salads, soft drinks, milk, coffee, frosty deserts, and kid’s meals.