The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Receives $18.08 Average Target Price from Analysts

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have issued a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $18.08.

Several research firms have issued reports on WEN. TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Argus raised Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Wendy’s from $15.50 to $16.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th.

Institutional Trading of Wendy’s

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,220 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Wendy’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Colonial Trust Co SC purchased a new stake in shares of Wendy’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 168.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,233 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Wendy’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. 85.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

Shares of Wendy’s stock opened at $15.26 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $14.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 1.85. The company has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.06, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.73. Wendy’s has a one year low of $13.72 and a one year high of $20.65.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last posted its 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 analysts’ expectations of $564.17 million. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 75.56% and a net margin of 8.65%. On average, research analysts predict that Wendy’s will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.26%.

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.