Tigress Financial Reiterates Buy Rating for Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN)

Tigress Financial reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $29.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on WEN. Wedbush reaffirmed a neutral rating and issued a $19.50 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Wendy’s in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. They set a sell rating and a $16.00 price target on the stock. Loop Capital restated a buy rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wendy’s has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $20.13.

Wendy’s Price Performance

WEN opened at $16.99 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.16, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a 50-day moving average of $16.87 and a 200-day moving average of $17.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.01, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.17. Wendy’s has a 1-year low of $15.61 and a 1-year high of $20.84.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $570.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $577.15 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 67.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Wendy’s will post 0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.89%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 1,000,000 shares of Wendy’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 14,943,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,728,745.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 17.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wendy’s

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 76.8% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,813,786 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $115,562,000 after acquiring an additional 2,960,526 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Wendy’s in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,085,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 113.6% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 3,491,376 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $59,214,000 after purchasing an additional 1,856,970 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,627,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,097,095 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $397,469,000 after buying an additional 1,273,140 shares in the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is currently 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.