Wendy’s’ (WEN) “Sell (D+)” Rating Reiterated at Weiss Ratings

Weiss Ratings reissued their sell (d+) rating on shares of Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Wendy’s from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $13.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Friday, August 8th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 11th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $11.00 price target (down previously from $14.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $21.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.66.

Wendy’s Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:WEN opened at $8.74 on Wednesday. Wendy’s has a 52 week low of $8.63 and a 52 week high of $20.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 28.74, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.45. The company has a market capitalization of $1.66 billion, a PE ratio of 9.10, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $9.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.24.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.04. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 103.07%. The firm had revenue of $560.93 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $558.95 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Wendy’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.820-0.89 EPS. Analysts forecast that Wendy’s will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.33%.

Institutional Trading of Wendy’s

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Wendy’s by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,634,226 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $316,509,000 after purchasing an additional 536,071 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Wendy’s by 30.1% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,843,438 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $158,092,000 after purchasing an additional 3,205,269 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Wendy’s by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,767,723 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $99,012,000 after purchasing an additional 464,444 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in 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 position in Wendy’s by 89.6% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

About Wendy’s

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.