Brokerages Set The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Target Price at $20.28

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the nineteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $20.28.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Wendy’s from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Wendy’s from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC raised its position in shares of Wendy’s by 31.2% in the 2nd quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 26,399 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $448,000 after buying an additional 6,273 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp purchased a new position in Wendy’s in the second quarter valued at about $232,000. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in Wendy’s by 83.0% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 438,952 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,445,000 after purchasing an additional 199,078 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd. raised its position in Wendy’s by 7.8% in the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 135,270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,294,000 after purchasing an additional 9,790 shares during the period. Finally, Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its position in Wendy’s by 29.6% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 22,614 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 5,168 shares during the period. 85.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

Shares of WEN stock opened at $17.17 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.07. Wendy’s has a 12-month low of $15.61 and a 12-month high of $22.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.01.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.01). Wendy’s had a return on equity of 67.74% and a net margin of 9.18%. The business had revenue of $570.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $577.15 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Wendy’s will post 1 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.01%.

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.