TD Cowen Reiterates “Hold” Rating for Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN)

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reiterated by stock analysts at TD Cowen in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $19.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock. TD Cowen’s target price points to a potential downside of 4.71% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on WEN. Gordon Haskett cut Wendy’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $21.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Wendy’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $20.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.60.

Wendy’s Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ WEN opened at $19.94 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.35, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.78. Wendy’s has a one year low of $17.64 and a one year high of $23.90. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.21, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 2.18.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $534.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $540.84 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 9.44% and a return on equity of 62.68%. The company’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.21 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Wendy’s will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wendy’s

In other Wendy’s news, Director Kenneth W. Gilbert sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.07, for a total transaction of $81,315.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 31,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $565,663.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wendy’s

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Wendy’s by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,220 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Wendy’s by 112.0% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,444 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 763 shares during the last quarter. Private Wealth Strategies L.L.C. raised its position in shares of Wendy’s by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Private Wealth Strategies L.L.C. now owns 17,867 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of Wendy’s by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 15,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Wendy’s by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,461 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 805 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

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.