The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 16,890,000 shares, an increase of 16.1% from the February 13th total of 14,550,000 shares. Approximately 9.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 4,930,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $17.00 target price (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, TD Securities reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Friday, March 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.08.

Wendy’s Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WEN opened at $15.43 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of 16.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.73. 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 price of $14.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.84.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $564.17 million. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 75.56% and a net margin of 8.65%. Analysts expect that Wendy’s will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.48%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.26%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wendy’s

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WEN. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Wendy’s by 670.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,402 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,220 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Wendy’s during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Colonial Trust Co SC acquired a new stake in shares of Wendy’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 168.1% in 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 position in shares of Wendy’s during the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. Institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

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.