Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) PT Raised to $18.75 at Citigroup

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) had its target price hoisted by Citigroup from $18.00 to $18.75 in a research note published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

WEN has been the topic of several other reports. Wedbush reissued a neutral rating and issued a $19.50 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Wendy’s in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. They set a sell rating and a $16.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Wendy’s from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Wendy’s currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $20.12.

Wendy’s Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of WEN opened at $18.62 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of 19.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.80. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $17.22 and its 200-day moving average is $17.61. Wendy’s has a 12 month low of $15.61 and a 12 month high of $20.65.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $570.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $577.15 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 67.74%. Wendy’s’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.28 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Wendy’s will post 0.98 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.37%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 102.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.18, for a total value of $17,180,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,943,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,728,745.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 17.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Wendy’s by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 203,162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,559,000 after buying an additional 7,180 shares during the period. Paladin Wealth LLC bought a new position in Wendy’s during the third quarter worth $144,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Wendy’s by 21.8% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 42,941 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $752,000 after purchasing an additional 7,685 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Wendy’s by 21.2% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,432 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 949 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in Wendy’s by 254.6% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 175,287 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,071,000 after purchasing an additional 125,851 shares in the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.