The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $7.75 According to Analysts

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the nineteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have issued a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $7.69.

Several research firms have recently commented on WEN. Citigroup upped their target price on Wendy’s from $8.00 to $8.25 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Seaport Research Partners started coverage on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Thursday.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

Shares of WEN stock opened at $6.70 on Tuesday. Wendy’s has a one year low of $5.94 and a one year high of $10.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.95, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.88. The stock has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $7.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $7.35.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $570.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $557.13 million. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 115.31% and a net margin of 5.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Wendy’s will post 0.49 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st were given a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. This is a negative change from Wendy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.42%.

Institutional Trading of Wendy’s

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WEN. Atlas Brown Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 28.6% during the 3rd quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 45,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 35.5% during the third quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 28,182 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $180,000 after purchasing an additional 7,390 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Wendy’s by 62.6% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 74,030 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $614,000 after acquiring an additional 28,508 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 20.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,566,985 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $54,440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101,063 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Wendy’s by 130.0% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 86,902 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $720,000 after buying an additional 49,124 shares during the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Wendy’s

Wendy’s Co (NASDAQ: WEN) operates and franchises the Wendy’s quick-service restaurant chain. Its menu primarily features hamburgers made with fresh, never-frozen beef, along with chicken sandwiches, nuggets, salads, french fries, breakfast items, beverages and the signature Frosty dessert.

Founded by Dave Thomas in Columbus, Ohio, in 1969, Wendy’s has grown into an international restaurant brand. The company serves customers through a network of company-operated and franchised restaurants, with a significant presence in the United States and additional locations in international markets.

In addition to restaurant sales, Wendy’s supports ordering through digital channels, including its mobile application and website, as well as delivery services.