Wendy’s’ (WEN) “Equal Weight” Rating Reiterated at Stephens

Stephens restated their equal weight rating on shares of Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $19.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen restated a hold rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Monday. Loop Capital restated a buy rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $20.13.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

Wendy’s stock opened at $16.83 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.01, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 2.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.80. Wendy’s has a 1-year low of $15.61 and a 1-year high of $20.84. The company’s 50-day moving average is $16.90 and its 200 day moving average is $17.72.

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

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is currently 101.01%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 14,943,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,728,745.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wendy’s

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Wendy’s by 6.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,097,095 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $397,469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273,140 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Wendy’s by 76.8% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,813,786 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $115,562,000 after buying an additional 2,960,526 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Wendy’s by 2.1% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,344,118 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $100,683,000 after acquiring an additional 111,626 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Wendy’s by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,706,052 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $91,674,000 after acquiring an additional 31,341 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Wendy’s by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,141,024 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $80,668,000 after acquiring an additional 63,927 shares during the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.