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

Stephens reaffirmed their equal weight rating on shares of Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $14.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on WEN. UBS Group decreased their target price 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. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $13.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Monday, May 5th. Guggenheim lowered shares of Wendy’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $26.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wendy’s has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.34.

Wendy’s Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ WEN opened at $11.33 on Tuesday. Wendy’s has a 1 year low of $10.91 and a 1 year high of $20.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $12.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.16. The firm has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 24.88, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 1.49.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.57% and a return on equity of 85.36%. The firm had revenue of $523.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $530.11 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.23 earnings per share. Wendy’s’s revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wendy’s will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Wendy’s Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.94%. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is 59.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Lindsay J. Radkoski acquired 5,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $11.68 per share, for a total transaction of $58,984.00. Following the acquisition, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 28,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $338,206.08. This represents a 21.12% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Abigail E. Pringle sold 136,819 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.81, for a total transaction of $1,752,651.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 203,005 shares in the company, valued at $2,600,494.05. This represents a 40.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wendy’s

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Wendy’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Colonial Trust Co SC acquired a new stake in shares of Wendy’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 1,111.9% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,133 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,957 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Wendy’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 7,180.9% in the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 3,422 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 3,375 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.