Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $7.30, but opened at $7.01. Wendy’s shares last traded at $6.9750, with a volume of 1,152,226 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WEN shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $7.25 to $7.75 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Mizuho set a $6.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $8.50 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wendy’s presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $8.39.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.25, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 1.83. The company has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.35. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $7.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.87.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $432.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $518.03 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 6.77% and a return on equity of 136.46%. Wendy’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.20 EPS. Wendy’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.560-0.600 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is currently 71.79%.

Institutional Trading of Wendy’s

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WEN. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in Wendy’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,912,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 38.1% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,705,610 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $97,508,000 after buying an additional 3,227,366 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 258.6% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 4,224,648 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $35,191,000 after buying an additional 3,046,517 shares in the last quarter. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 382.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC now owns 1,216,811 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $11,146,000 after buying an additional 964,771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 114.6% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 116,152 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $968,000 after buying an additional 909,122 shares in the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Wendy’s

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) operates as a global quick-service restaurant chain, best known for its square-shaped beef patties, fresh ingredient sourcing and signature Frosty dessert. The company’s menu features a variety of hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, salads, breakfast sandwiches, sides and beverages, designed to appeal to a broad customer base seeking both classic and contemporary fast-food options. Wendy’s has placed particular emphasis on product innovation, introducing limited-time offerings and revamped core menu items to maintain customer interest and respond to evolving dining trends.

Founded in 1969 by entrepreneur Dave Thomas in Columbus, Ohio, Wendy’s expanded rapidly through both company-owned and franchised outlets.