Wedbush Issues Pessimistic Estimate for Wendy’s Earnings

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) – Equities research analysts at Wedbush cut their Q3 2024 earnings per share estimates for Wendy’s in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush analyst N. Setyan now expects that the restaurant operator will post earnings of $0.25 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $0.26. Wedbush currently has a “Neutral” rating and a $19.50 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Wendy’s’ current full-year earnings is $0.98 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Wendy’s’ Q2 2025 earnings at $0.32 EPS and Q3 2025 earnings at $0.28 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on Wendy’s from $18.00 to $18.75 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.22.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

Shares of Wendy’s stock opened at $19.54 on Monday. Wendy’s has a 52 week low of $15.61 and a 52 week high of $20.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.01, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.94, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $17.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.66.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $570.73 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.15 million. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 67.74% and a net margin of 9.18%. The company’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.12%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is 102.04%.

Insider Activity at Wendy’s

In other Wendy’s news, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.18, for a total value of $17,180,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,943,466 shares in the company, valued at $256,728,745.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 17.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wendy’s

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Wendy’s in the third quarter valued at $187,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Wendy’s by 72.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 66,843 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,171,000 after acquiring an additional 27,989 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 3.8% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 26,865 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $471,000 after acquiring an additional 995 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in shares of Wendy’s by 7.3% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 19,827 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Wendy’s by 275.7% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 150,462 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,636,000 after purchasing an additional 110,418 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Wendy’s Company Profile

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.