Analysts Set The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) PT at $20.36

Shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fourteen have given a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.36.

WEN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Wendy’s from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Wendy’s by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,097,095 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $397,469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273,140 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 98.2% during the second quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 176,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,987,000 after buying an additional 87,254 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Wendy’s in the second quarter valued at about $17,094,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 159.2% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its stake in Wendy’s by 254.6% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 175,287 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,071,000 after acquiring an additional 125,851 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Wendy’s Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WEN opened at $18.48 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $18.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.71. Wendy’s has a fifty-two week low of $15.61 and a fifty-two week high of $20.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.10.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.25. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 70.02%. The business had revenue of $566.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $560.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Wendy’s will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.26%.

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.