Denny's Co. (NASDAQ:DENN) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Denny's Co. (NASDAQ:DENN - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $7.75.

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Denny's from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Denny's from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Denny's from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wedbush reduced their price target on Denny's from $10.00 to $8.50 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Denny's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Stephen C. Dunn purchased 9,815 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $5.08 per share, for a total transaction of $49,860.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 113,666 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $577,423.28. This trade represents a 9.45 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kelli Valade acquired 9,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $5.13 per share, with a total value of $49,761.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 192,806 shares of the company's stock, valued at $989,094.78. This trade represents a 5.30 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 20,465 shares of company stock valued at $104,457 over the last ninety days. 4.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On Denny's

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Denny's by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 1,665,680 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $10,077,000 after buying an additional 274,459 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Denny's by 244.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 75,797 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $489,000 after acquiring an additional 53,763 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Denny's by 2,820.6% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,665,893 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $10,081,000 after purchasing an additional 1,608,854 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Denny's by 342.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 82,257 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $531,000 after acquiring an additional 63,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Denny's by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,180,879 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $7,618,000 after acquiring an additional 3,902 shares during the last quarter. 85.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Denny's Trading Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ DENN traded down $0.02 on Wednesday, hitting $3.43. 1,290,900 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 840,763. Denny's has a 52 week low of $3.16 and a 52 week high of $8.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $4.89 and a 200-day moving average of $5.81. The stock has a market cap of $177.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.37 and a beta of 1.87.

Denny's (NASDAQ:DENN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The restaurant operator reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). Denny's had a net margin of 4.77% and a negative return on equity of 50.01%. As a group, analysts predict that Denny's will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Denny's Company Profile

Denny's Corp. engages in the operation of restaurants and franchised, and licensed restaurants. It operates through the Denny's and Other segments. The Denny's segment includes the results of all company and franchised and licensed Denny's restaurants. The Other segment refers to the results of all company and franchise restaurants.