Analysts Set Denny’s Co. (NASDAQ:DENN) Price Target at $7.75

Denny’s Co. (NASDAQ:DENN) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $7.75.

A number of analysts have issued reports on DENN shares. StockNews.com lowered Denny’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Denny’s from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wedbush cut their target price on shares of Denny’s from $10.00 to $8.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Denny’s from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Denny’s from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Stephen C. Dunn acquired 9,815 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $5.08 per share, for a total transaction of $49,860.20. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 113,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $577,423.28. This trade represents a 9.45 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kelli Valade bought 9,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $5.13 per share, with a total value of $49,761.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 192,806 shares in the company, valued at $989,094.78. This represents a 5.30 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 20,465 shares of company stock worth $104,457 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Denny’s

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DENN. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Denny’s by 2,820.6% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,665,893 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,081,000 after purchasing an additional 1,608,854 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Denny’s by 73.2% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 1,381,120 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $8,908,000 after acquiring an additional 583,660 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Denny’s by 99.7% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,138,473 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,888,000 after acquiring an additional 568,266 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its position in Denny’s by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 1,665,680 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,077,000 after acquiring an additional 274,459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Denny’s by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,559,063 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $9,432,000 after purchasing an additional 267,694 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

Denny’s Stock Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ:DENN opened at $3.43 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $4.89 and its 200-day moving average is $5.81. The firm has a market cap of $177.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.37 and a beta of 1.87. Denny’s has a 12 month low of $3.16 and a 12 month high of $8.83.

Denny’s (NASDAQ:DENN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The restaurant operator reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). Denny’s had a negative return on equity of 50.01% and a net margin of 4.77%. Research analysts predict that Denny’s will post 0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Denny’s Company Profile

Denny’s Corp. engages in the operation of restaurants and franchised, and licensed restaurants. It operates through the Denny’s and Other segments. The Denny’s segment includes the results of all company and franchised and licensed Denny’s restaurants. The Other segment refers to the results of all company and franchise restaurants.