Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Earns “Neutral” Rating from Wedbush

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating restated by investment analysts at Wedbush in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $20.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock. Wedbush’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 1.73% from the company’s current price. Wedbush also issued estimates for Wendy’s’ Q3 2025 earnings at $0.27 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $1.06 EPS.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $18.00 to $18.75 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Wendy’s from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Wendy’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.36.

Wendy’s Price Performance

NASDAQ WEN opened at $19.66 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.01. Wendy’s has a 12 month low of $15.61 and a 12 month high of $20.65. The company’s 50 day moving average is $18.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.72. The stock has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.69, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.80.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 67.74% and a net margin of 9.18%. The business had revenue of $566.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $560.50 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Wendy’s will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Wendy’s

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 2.2% in 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 period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in Wendy’s by 13.3% in the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 95,909 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,807,000 after purchasing an additional 11,231 shares in the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the first quarter valued at about $379,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 159.2% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 59,356 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,118,000 after buying an additional 36,456 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of Wendy’s by 5.6% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is currently 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.