The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Analysts

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” by the twenty-one ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have assigned a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $7.7763.

WEN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on Wendy’s from $8.00 to $8.25 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Friday, July 17th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $8.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Monday, August 10th.

Institutional Trading of Wendy’s

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WEN. Trian Fund Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Wendy’s during the 2nd quarter worth $252,583,000. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Wendy’s by 21.1% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 26,314,724 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $218,149,000 after purchasing an additional 4,576,075 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Wendy’s by 5.6% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,493,752 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,232,000 after purchasing an additional 236,541 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Wendy’s in the first quarter valued at about $26,062,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 5.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,280,217 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $18,903,000 after buying an additional 121,686 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Wendy’s Trading Down 0.6%

NASDAQ WEN opened at $6.99 on Friday. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $7.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.46. The company has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.39. Wendy’s has a 12 month low of $6.07 and a 12 month high of $10.12.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.02. Wendy’s had a net margin of 5.72% and a return on equity of 115.31%. The firm had revenue of $570.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $557.13 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.29 EPS. Wendy’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Wendy’s will post 0.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.42%.

Wendy’s Company Profile

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ: WEN) operates and franchises the Wendy’s quick-service restaurant chain. Its restaurants serve hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, salads, fries, breakfast items, baked goods, beverages and other menu offerings. The company also supports restaurant operations through digital ordering, delivery and loyalty programs.

Wendy’s was founded by Dave Thomas in Columbus, Ohio, in 1969. The brand is known for its square hamburgers, made-to-order preparation and “old-fashioned” positioning.