Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Receives “Hold” Rating from TD Cowen

TD Cowen reissued their hold rating on shares of Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) in a research note released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $17.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on WEN. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Wendy’s from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Wendy’s in a report on Thursday, June 13th. They issued a sell rating and a $16.00 target price on the stock. Tigress Financial reissued a buy rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Wendy’s from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $20.13.

Wendy’s Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of WEN opened at $16.90 on Monday. Wendy’s has a 12-month low of $15.61 and a 12-month high of $20.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.80. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $16.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.72. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.01.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.01). Wendy’s had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 67.74%. The company had revenue of $570.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.15 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Wendy’s will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 5.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.01%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.18, for a total value of $17,180,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,943,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,728,745.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 17.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its position in shares of Wendy’s by 378.0% in the 1st quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 1,568 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 1,240 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Wendy’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Wendy’s in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Wendy’s by 483.2% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wendy’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Wendy’s Company Profile

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.