Truist Financial Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Stock

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) had its price objective upped by Truist Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on WEN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target 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. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.36.

Wendy’s Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Wendy’s stock opened at $19.72 on Friday. Wendy’s has a 52 week low of $15.61 and a 52 week high of $20.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $18.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.01 billion, a PE ratio of 20.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.79.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.25. The firm had revenue of $566.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $560.50 million. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 70.02% and a net margin of 8.76%. The business’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Wendy’s will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.26%.

Insider Activity at Wendy’s

In other news, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 17.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its holdings in Wendy’s by 2.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in Wendy’s by 13.3% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 95,909 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,807,000 after purchasing an additional 11,231 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC acquired a new stake in Wendy’s in the 1st quarter valued at about $379,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 36,456 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in Wendy’s by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 15,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $286,000 after acquiring an additional 801 shares during the period. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.