Wendy’s Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:WEN)

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock investors purchased 20,439 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 411% compared to the average daily volume of 4,002 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wendy’s

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WEN. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 670.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,402 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,220 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Wendy’s in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Colonial Trust Co SC purchased a new stake in Wendy’s in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Wendy’s by 168.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,233 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Wendy’s in the fourth quarter worth $46,000. 85.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WEN shares. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $14.00 target price (down previously from $22.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on Wendy’s from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.08.

Wendy’s Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of WEN traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $14.93. 1,507,513 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,952,497. The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48. Wendy’s has a 1 year low of $13.72 and a 1 year high of $20.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.72, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.73. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $14.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.83.

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

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.70%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.26%.

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.