Wedbush Reiterates “Neutral” Rating for Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN)

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Wedbush in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $16.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock. Wedbush’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 3.03% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $14.00 price objective (down previously from $22.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $17.00 price target (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.08.

Wendy’s Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WEN opened at $15.53 on Friday. Wendy’s has a twelve month low of $13.72 and a twelve month high of $20.65. The company has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.93.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 75.56% and a net margin of 8.65%. The business had revenue of $574.27 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $564.17 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Wendy’s will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wendy’s

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Wendy’s by 670.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,402 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Colonial Trust Co SC acquired a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Wendy’s by 168.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,233 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the fourth quarter worth $46,000. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wendy’s Company Profile

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.