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

Shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $22.47.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Wendy’s from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Wendy’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Gordon Haskett downgraded Wendy’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $21.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Barclays downgraded Wendy’s from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $23.00 to $21.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Wednesday, April 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wendy’s

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wendy’s

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Highlander Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 250.0% in the fourth quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 112.0% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,444 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 763 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 203.2% during the third quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,516 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,016 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Wendy’s during the third quarter valued at about $42,000. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wendy’s Price Performance

WEN opened at $19.82 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $18.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.66, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.19. The company has a market cap of $4.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.22, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.82. Wendy’s has a one year low of $17.64 and a one year high of $23.90.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.02). Wendy’s had a return on equity of 56.24% and a net margin of 9.37%. The company had revenue of $540.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $546.47 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Wendy’s will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is currently 102.04%.

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.