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

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reissued by Stephens in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $19.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock. Stephens’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 6.03% from the stock’s current price.

WEN has been the topic of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Wendy’s from $18.00 to $18.75 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.36.

Wendy’s Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WEN opened at $17.92 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64. The stock has a market cap of $3.65 billion, a PE ratio of 18.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.64. Wendy’s has a 1-year low of $15.61 and a 1-year high of $20.65.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.25. The company had revenue of $566.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $560.50 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 70.02%. Wendy’s’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Wendy’s will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Wendy’s

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Wendy’s by 159.6% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,440,880 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $112,844,000 after buying an additional 3,959,480 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Wendy’s by 76.8% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,813,786 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $115,562,000 after acquiring an additional 2,960,526 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 113.6% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 3,491,376 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $59,214,000 after acquiring an additional 1,856,970 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Wendy’s by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,097,095 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $397,469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273,140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Wendy’s during the 2nd quarter worth $17,094,000. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.