Equities Analysts Offer Predictions for Wendy’s Q3 Earnings

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) – Investment analysts at Wedbush cut their Q3 2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Wendy’s in a research note issued on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush analyst N. Setyan now expects that the restaurant operator will earn $0.25 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $0.26. Wedbush currently has a “Neutral” rating and a $19.50 target price 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.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.01). Wendy’s had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 67.74%. The firm had revenue of $570.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.15 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.28 earnings per share. Wendy’s’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on WEN. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Wendy’s from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Wendy’s from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Wendy’s has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.22.

Wendy’s Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of WEN opened at $19.54 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.66. The company has a market cap of $3.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.80. Wendy’s has a one year low of $15.61 and a one year high of $20.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.01, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 2.15.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wendy’s

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Wendy’s during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 378.0% in the 1st quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 1,568 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Wendy’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Wendy’s during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Wendy’s by 483.2% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 1,551 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.12%. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is 102.04%.

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.