Analysts Set The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Target Price at $10.86

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-seven analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, sixteen have assigned a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $10.8636.

WEN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial set a $12.00 target price on Wendy’s in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Northcoast Research lowered shares of Wendy’s from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $7.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $9.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Wendy’s from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 13th.

Wendy’s Trading Down 4.7%

Shares of WEN stock opened at $7.90 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 28.74, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.43. Wendy’s has a 1 year low of $7.83 and a 1 year high of $18.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.23, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.38.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.04. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 103.07% and a net margin of 8.63%.The firm had revenue of $442.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $535.75 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Wendy’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.820-0.890 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.1%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WEN. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Wendy’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,912,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Wendy’s by 30.1% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,843,438 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $158,092,000 after buying an additional 3,205,269 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 61.3% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,041,012 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $57,568,000 after acquiring an additional 1,915,465 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Wendy’s in the second quarter worth $18,929,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Wendy’s by 89.6% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,987,332 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $43,705,000 after acquiring an additional 1,411,912 shares in the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wendy’s Company Profile

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.