Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Earns Underweight Rating from Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley reiterated their underweight rating on shares of Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) in a research note released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $14.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock, down from their previous price target of $22.00.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on WEN. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Wendy’s from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Wendy’s from $18.00 to $18.75 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Wendy’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.71.

Wendy’s Trading Up 0.4 %

Wendy’s stock opened at $14.22 on Tuesday. Wendy’s has a 52-week low of $13.98 and a 52-week high of $20.65. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.97, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $16.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.37.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.25. The firm had revenue of $566.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $560.50 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 70.02%. Wendy’s’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Wendy’s will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.26%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wendy’s

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Wendy’s by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 18,507 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 2,285 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Wendy’s during the 4th quarter worth about $274,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 25,529 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Wendy’s by 70.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,102 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $99,000 after buying an additional 2,518 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Wendy’s by 670.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,402 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 1,220 shares in the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wendy’s Company Profile

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.