Stephens Reiterates “Equal Weight” Rating for Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN)

Stephens reissued their equal weight rating on shares of Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $15.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on WEN. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Wedbush increased their target price on Wendy’s from $15.50 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.34.

Wendy’s Stock Up 1.4 %

WEN stock opened at $15.16 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.96. The company has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 15.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.77. Wendy’s has a twelve month low of $13.72 and a twelve month high of $20.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $574.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $564.17 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 75.56%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Wendy’s will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.60%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.26%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wendy’s

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in Wendy’s by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 19,827 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 1,345 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the third quarter worth approximately $194,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Wendy’s by 9.1% in the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 105,952 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,856,000 after purchasing an additional 8,876 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Wendy’s during the third quarter worth approximately $220,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in Wendy’s by 78.7% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 94,442 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,655,000 after purchasing an additional 41,586 shares during the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.