The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $7.56

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eighteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have given a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $7.56.

Several research analysts recently commented on WEN shares. Morgan Stanley set a $5.50 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Citigroup upped their target price on Wendy’s from $6.75 to $8.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group decreased their price target on Wendy’s from $8.00 to $6.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 26th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wendy’s

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WEN. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in Wendy’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 630.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 5,245 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 4,527 shares during the period. Nykredit A S purchased a new position in shares of Wendy’s during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Pavion Blue Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wendy’s during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $64,000. 85.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wendy’s Price Performance

NASDAQ WEN opened at $8.30 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a PE ratio of 16.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.37. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $6.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $7.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.95, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 1.90. Wendy’s has a 52-week low of $5.94 and a 52-week high of $9.45.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $435.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $531.28 million. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 115.31% and a net margin of 5.72%. Wendy’s’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.24 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Wendy’s will post 0.50 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 1st. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.90%.

About Wendy’s