Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Stock Price

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) had its target price lowered by Barclays from $17.00 to $16.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Barclays‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 11.89% from the stock’s previous close.

WEN has been the subject of several other reports. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $15.50 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wendy’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.93.

Wendy’s Price Performance

Shares of WEN stock opened at $14.30 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.08. Wendy’s has a 1-year low of $13.72 and a 1-year high of $20.65. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $15.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.11.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $574.27 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $564.17 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 70.02%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Wendy’s will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Wendy’s

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Wendy’s by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 92,132 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,614,000 after buying an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. now owns 11,689 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 25,529 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 57,400 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $979,000 after purchasing an additional 797 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 15,634 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Wendy’s

The Wendy’s Co engages in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants. It offers hamburgers and related products, such as chicken breast sandwiches, nuggets, chili, and baked potatoes, French fries, freshly prepared salads, soft drinks, milk, coffee, frosty deserts, and kid’s meals.