Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Rating Increased to Hold at Zacks Research

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on WEN. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $12.00 target price (down previously from $15.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on Wendy’s in a research note on Monday, October 27th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $8.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.86.

Wendy’s Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ:WEN opened at $8.73 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $9.17 and its 200-day moving average is $10.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 28.74. Wendy’s has a 12 month low of $8.39 and a 12 month high of $18.73. The firm has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.38.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $442.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $535.75 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 103.07%. Wendy’s’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.25 EPS. Wendy’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.820-0.890 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Wendy’s will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Wendy’s

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEN. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Wendy’s by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,634,226 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $316,509,000 after buying an additional 536,071 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Wendy’s by 30.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,843,438 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $158,092,000 after acquiring an additional 3,205,269 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Wendy’s by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,767,723 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $99,012,000 after purchasing an additional 464,444 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Wendy’s by 61.3% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,041,012 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $57,568,000 after purchasing an additional 1,915,465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 89.6% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,987,332 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $43,705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,411,912 shares during the period. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wendy’s Company Profile

The Wendy’s Co engages in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants. It operates through the following segments: Wendy’s U.S., Wendy’s International, and Global Real Estate and Development. The Wendy’s U.S. segment includes the operation and franchising of Wendy’s restaurants in the U.S.