Stifel Nicolaus Cuts Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Price Target to $16.00

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) had its target price reduced by Stifel Nicolaus from $17.00 to $16.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

WEN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on Wendy’s from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wendy’s presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.88.

Wendy’s Price Performance

Shares of Wendy’s stock opened at $15.51 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 1.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $15.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.07. Wendy’s has a one year low of $13.72 and a one year high of $20.65.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 75.56% and a net margin of 8.65%. The company had revenue of $574.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $564.17 million. Equities analysts expect that Wendy’s will post 1.01 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is 105.26%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WEN. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Wendy’s by 670.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,402 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,220 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Wendy’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Colonial Trust Co SC acquired a new position in Wendy’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Wendy’s by 168.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,233 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Wendy’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Wendy’s

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.