Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Reaches New 52-Week Low at $16.17

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $16.17 and last traded at $16.19, with a volume of 646440 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $16.43.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WEN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $16.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.79.

Wendy’s Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.21, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 2.02. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.56. The company has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.60, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.76.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.02. Wendy’s had a net margin of 9.44% and a return on equity of 62.68%. The company had revenue of $534.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $540.84 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.21 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Wendy’s Company will post 1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.15%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 3rd. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is presently 101.01%.

Insider Activity at Wendy’s

In related news, CMO Juan Carlos Loredo sold 44,806 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.50, for a total value of $873,717.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 27,586 shares in the company, valued at $537,927. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 17.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEN. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 16.3% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 258,021 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,266,000 after buying an additional 36,105 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 124.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 192,104 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,921,000 after buying an additional 106,420 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 6.0% during the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 30,790 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $628,000 after buying an additional 1,742 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association increased its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 27.9% during the third quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 13,386 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 2,917 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 193.7% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,277,958 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,083,000 after buying an additional 842,856 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

About Wendy’s

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.