Stephens Reiterates Equal Weight Rating for Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN)

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reissued by stock analysts at Stephens in a research report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $19.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock. Stephens’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 7.65% from the company’s previous close.

WEN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Wendy’s from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $17.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Monday, September 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.12.

Wendy’s Stock Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ WEN traded down $0.11 on Tuesday, reaching $17.65. 1,631,985 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,398,245. Wendy’s has a 12 month low of $15.61 and a 12 month high of $20.65. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $17.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.62. The company has a market cap of $3.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.82, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.01, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.17.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.01). Wendy’s had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 67.74%. The company had revenue of $570.73 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.15 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.28 EPS. Wendy’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Wendy’s will post 0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.18, for a total transaction of $17,180,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,943,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,728,745.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WEN. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 1.5% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 48,893 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $829,000 after buying an additional 711 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 5.6% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 15,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 801 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in Wendy’s by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 51,523 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $874,000 after buying an additional 810 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its position in Wendy’s by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 40,985 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $772,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in Wendy’s by 2.1% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 46,945 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $796,000 after acquiring an additional 953 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

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.