Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Price Target Raised to $23.00

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) had its price target upped by Piper Sandler from $21.00 to $23.00 in a research note released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on WEN. Wedbush boosted their price target on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday. TD Cowen reissued a hold rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Friday. Stephens reissued an equal weight rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Wendy’s from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $20.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Wendy’s from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and decreased their target price for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Fourteen investment 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $22.60.

Wendy’s Price Performance

Shares of WEN stock opened at $19.94 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.14, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.21, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.04. Wendy’s has a fifty-two week low of $17.64 and a fifty-two week high of $23.90.

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

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.02%. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is currently 101.01%.

Insider Activity at Wendy’s

In other Wendy’s news, Director Kenneth W. Gilbert sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.07, for a total transaction of $81,315.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 31,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $565,663.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Wendy’s by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,220 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 112.0% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,444 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 763 shares during the period. Private Wealth Strategies L.L.C. increased its holdings in Wendy’s by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Private Wealth Strategies L.L.C. now owns 17,867 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $348,000 after buying an additional 789 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 15,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $286,000 after acquiring an additional 801 shares during the period. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 805 shares during the period. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wendy’s Company Profile

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.