Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) had its price target boosted by Barclays from $16.00 to $17.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the restaurant operator's stock.

WEN has been the topic of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley restated an "underweight" rating and set a $14.00 target price (down from $22.00) on shares of Wendy's in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Wendy's from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of Wendy's in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Wendy's from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of Wendy's in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $18.08.

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Wendy's Trading Up 2.4 %

NASDAQ WEN traded up $0.37 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $15.53. The company had a trading volume of 8,100,099 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,891,168. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $15.06 and a 200 day moving average of $16.93. Wendy's has a 1-year low of $13.72 and a 1-year high of $20.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.77.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $574.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $564.17 million. Wendy's had a net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 75.56%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Wendy's will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Wendy's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.26%.

Institutional Trading of Wendy's

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in Wendy's by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 711,267 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $12,461,000 after buying an additional 102,769 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors purchased a new stake in Wendy's in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,733,000. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Wendy's in the 4th quarter valued at about $357,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Wendy's in the 4th quarter valued at about $13,358,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Wendy's by 90.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 109,747 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,923,000 after buying an additional 52,225 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.96% of the company's stock.

About Wendy's

The Wendy's Co engages in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants. It offers hamburgers and related products, such as chicken breast sandwiches, nuggets, chili, and baked potatoes, French fries, freshly prepared salads, soft drinks, milk, coffee, frosty deserts, and kid's meals.