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

Stephens reaffirmed their equal weight rating on shares of Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $14.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WEN. Argus upgraded Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $15.50 to $16.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Friday, March 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.36.

Wendy’s Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ WEN opened at $12.55 on Friday. Wendy’s has a 12-month low of $12.05 and a 12-month high of $20.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48. The firm has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a PE ratio of 13.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $14.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.90.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 75.56% and a net margin of 8.65%. Wendy’s’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.23 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Wendy’s will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.46%. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is currently 105.26%.

Institutional Trading of Wendy’s

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake 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 last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 57,400 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $979,000 after buying an additional 797 shares during the period. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,207 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 842 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 15,634 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Wendy’s by 27.4% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,262 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 917 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

About Wendy’s

The Wendy’s Co engages in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants. It operates through the following segments: Wendy’s U.S., Wendy’s International, and Global Real Estate and Development. The Wendy’s U.S. segment includes the operation and franchising of Wendy’s restaurants in the U.S.