Piper Sandler Cuts Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Price Target to $19.00

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) had its price objective decreased by Piper Sandler from $23.00 to $19.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on WEN. Stephens reduced their target price on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Wendy’s from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $20.28.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

WEN opened at $16.88 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.01, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 2.02. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $16.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.13. Wendy’s has a 1 year low of $15.61 and a 1 year high of $22.42.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.01). Wendy’s had a return on equity of 67.74% and a net margin of 9.18%. The firm had revenue of $570.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $577.15 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.28 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Wendy’s will post 1 earnings per share for the current year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.01%.

Insider Activity at Wendy’s

In other news, CMO Juan Carlos Loredo sold 44,806 shares of Wendy’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.50, for a total transaction of $873,717.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 27,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $537,927. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 17.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Wendy’s

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Wendy’s by 262.4% in the 4th quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC now owns 74,297 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,447,000 after acquiring an additional 53,794 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Wendy’s by 145.8% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,116 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in Wendy’s during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,533,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Wendy’s by 6.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,097,095 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $397,469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273,140 shares during the period. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Wendy’s in the 4th quarter valued at $1,027,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.