Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN) Stock Price

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) had its target price dropped by stock analysts at Barclays from $17.00 to $16.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "equal weight" rating on the restaurant operator's stock. Barclays's target price points to a potential upside of 6.74% from the stock's previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on WEN. UBS Group decreased their price target on Wendy's from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $14.00 target price (down previously from $22.00) on shares of Wendy's in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Wendy's from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Wendy's from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wedbush upped their target price on Wendy's from $15.50 to $16.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $18.93.

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Wendy's Stock Up 4.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WEN traded up $0.69 during trading on Friday, reaching $14.99. 9,043,353 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,964,599. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $15.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.08. Wendy's has a 1-year low of $13.72 and a 1-year high of $20.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The firm has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.77.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. Wendy's had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 70.02%. The firm had revenue of $574.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $564.17 million. Research analysts anticipate that Wendy's will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wendy's

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEN. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in shares of Wendy's by 16.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Wendy's during the fourth quarter worth about $357,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Wendy's in the 4th quarter worth about $13,358,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Wendy's by 90.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Wendy's in the 4th quarter worth approximately $464,000. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.