Brokerages Set The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Price Target at $20.36

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fourteen have issued a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $20.36.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WEN shares. Wolfe Research raised shares of Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Wendy’s from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Wendy’s from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wendy’s

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WEN. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 98.2% in the 2nd 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. acquired a new position in Wendy’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $17,094,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Wendy’s in the third quarter worth approximately $1,659,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in Wendy’s by 90.8% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 109,747 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,923,000 after acquiring an additional 52,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in Wendy’s by 254.6% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 175,287 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,071,000 after purchasing an additional 125,851 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

Shares of WEN stock opened at $17.11 on Friday. Wendy’s has a 52-week low of $15.61 and a 52-week high of $20.65. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64. The stock has a market cap of $3.49 billion, a PE ratio of 18.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.58.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.25. The business had revenue of $566.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $560.50 million. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 70.02% and a net margin of 8.76%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Wendy’s will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is currently 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.