Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Price Target Increased to $21.00 by Analysts at UBS Group

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) had its price objective lifted by UBS Group from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on WEN. Truist Financial cut their target price on Wendy’s from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Wendy’s from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $20.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Wendy’s from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $21.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Wendy’s from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price target for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wendy’s presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $22.60.

Wendy’s Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ WEN opened at $19.94 on Friday. Wendy’s has a 1 year low of $17.64 and a 1 year high of $23.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.21, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 2.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $18.80 and a 200 day moving average of $19.05. The stock has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.78.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its 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 firm 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 business’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.21 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Wendy’s will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.02%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kenneth W. Gilbert sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.07, for a total transaction of $81,315.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 31,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $565,663.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 17.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wendy’s

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Highlander Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Wendy’s by 250.0% in the 4th quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Wendy’s by 112.0% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,444 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 763 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 378.0% in the first quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 1,568 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 1,240 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 203.2% during the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,516 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 1,016 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Wendy’s during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 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.