Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Trading Up 4.9% – Still a Buy?

Shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) traded up 4.9% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $15.90 and last traded at $15.96. 1,649,491 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 5,121,864 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.21.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Argus upgraded Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Wendy’s from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.73.

Wendy’s Trading Up 5.3 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $15.32 and its 200-day moving average is $17.05. The company has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a PE ratio of 16.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.77.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $574.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $564.17 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 75.56%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.24%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is currently 105.26%.

Institutional Trading of Wendy’s

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WEN. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 159.6% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,440,880 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $112,844,000 after buying an additional 3,959,480 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Wendy’s by 3,249.7% during the 4th quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 1,568,348 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,564,000 after acquiring an additional 1,521,527 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Wendy’s by 296.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,882,829 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407,503 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in shares of Wendy’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $16,678,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Wendy’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $13,358,000. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.