The Wendy’s Company to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.25 (NASDAQ:WEN)

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, August 1st, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of 0.25 per share by the restaurant operator on Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.91%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd.

Wendy’s has increased its dividend by an average of 51.1% annually over the last three years. Wendy’s has a payout ratio of 93.5% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings fall. Research analysts expect Wendy’s to earn $1.05 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 95.2%.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

WEN opened at $16.92 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.09, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.76. Wendy’s has a 1-year low of $15.61 and a 1-year high of $20.84. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.01, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 2.15.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $570.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $577.15 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.28 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Wendy’s will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WEN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Wendy’s from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Wendy’s from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.18, for a total value of $17,180,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,943,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,728,745.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 17.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.