Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Stock Bumped Up to Neutral by Northcoast Research

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) was upgraded by equities researchers at Northcoast Research from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports.

WEN has been the topic of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $5.50 price target on Wendy’s in a report on Monday, August 10th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $6.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Wendy’s from $8.00 to $6.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $7.56.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

Shares of WEN opened at $8.34 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.36. Wendy’s has a 52-week low of $5.94 and a 52-week high of $9.45. The company has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a PE ratio of 16.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.37.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.04. Wendy’s had a net margin of 4.40% and a return on equity of 93.77%. The company had revenue of $435.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $531.28 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.24 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Wendy’s will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WEN. Trian Fund Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Wendy’s in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $252,583,000. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Wendy’s by 21.1% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 26,314,724 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $218,149,000 after buying an additional 4,576,075 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Wendy’s by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,630,763 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $42,304,000 after buying an additional 63,778 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Wendy’s by 5.6% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,493,752 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,232,000 after buying an additional 236,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of Wendy’s in the first quarter worth $26,062,000. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Wendy’s

The Wendy’s Company operates and franchises quick-service restaurants under the Wendy’s name. Founded by Dave Thomas in Columbus, Ohio, in 1969, the chain is known for hamburgers made with fresh, never-frozen beef in the United States, along with chicken sandwiches, nuggets, fries, salads and its signature Frosty dessert. Wendy’s restaurants also offer breakfast items and a range of beverages. The company serves customers in the United States and international markets through a mix of company-operated and franchised locations.