Stephens Reaffirms “Equal Weight” Rating for Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN)

Stephens reissued their equal weight rating on shares of Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $20.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on WEN. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Wendy’s from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and cut their price target for the company from $24.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Gordon Haskett cut Wendy’s from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $21.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Wedbush increased their price target on Wendy’s from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Wendy’s from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Barclays lowered shares of Wendy’s from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $22.60.

Wendy’s Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WEN opened at $19.94 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $18.80 and its 200-day moving average is $19.05. Wendy’s has a twelve month low of $17.64 and a twelve month high of $23.90. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.14, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.78.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $534.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $540.84 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 9.44% and a return on equity of 62.68%. The business’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.21 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Wendy’s will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.02%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kenneth W. Gilbert sold 4,500 shares of Wendy’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.07, for a total value of $81,315.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 31,304 shares in the company, valued at $565,663.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 17.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wendy’s

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Advisor Resource Council purchased a new stake in shares of Wendy’s in the fourth quarter worth about $372,000. Highlander Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Wendy’s by 250.0% in the 4th quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Wendy’s by 193.7% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,277,958 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,083,000 after purchasing an additional 842,856 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in shares of Wendy’s by 484.0% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 209,718 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,280,000 after purchasing an additional 173,805 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 6.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,248,412 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $413,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162,540 shares during the period. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Wendy’s

The Wendy's Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a quick-service restaurant company in the United States and internationally. It operates through Wendy's U.S., Wendy's International, and Global Real Estate & Development segments. The company is involved in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants specializing in hamburger sandwiches.