Wedbush Reiterates Neutral Rating for Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN)

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reissued by stock analysts at Wedbush in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $16.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock. Wedbush’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 5.54% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on WEN. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays lifted their target price on Wendy’s from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wendy’s currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.26.

Wendy’s Price Performance

Shares of Wendy’s stock opened at $15.16 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $15.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.96, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48. Wendy’s has a twelve month low of $13.72 and a twelve month high of $20.65.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 75.56%. The firm had revenue of $574.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $564.17 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Wendy’s will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Wendy’s by 670.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,402 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 1,220 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Wendy’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Colonial Trust Co SC bought a new stake in Wendy’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Wendy’s by 168.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,233 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Finally, AM Squared Ltd bought a new position in Wendy’s in the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Wendy’s Company Profile

The Wendy’s Co engages in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants. It offers hamburgers and related products, such as chicken breast sandwiches, nuggets, chili, and baked potatoes, French fries, freshly prepared salads, soft drinks, milk, coffee, frosty deserts, and kid’s meals.