Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN) Issues FY24 Earnings Guidance

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) issued an update on its FY24 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of $0.99-$1.01 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $0.99. Wendy's also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 0.990-1.010 EPS.

Wendy's Stock Down 5.9 %

Shares of Wendy's stock traded down $1.20 on Thursday, hitting $19.11. The company had a trading volume of 8,816,878 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,517,125. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.01, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.17. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $17.92 and a 200-day moving average of $17.71. Wendy's has a 1 year low of $15.61 and a 1 year high of $20.65.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $570.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.15 million. Wendy's had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 67.74%. The business's revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Wendy's will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Wendy's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.23%. Wendy's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WEN shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Wendy's from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Wendy's from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Wedbush reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $19.50 price objective on shares of Wendy's in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Wendy's from $18.00 to $18.75 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Wendy's from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $20.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wendy's news, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.18, for a total transaction of $17,180,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,943,466 shares in the company, valued at $256,728,745.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 17.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Wendy's

The Wendy's Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a quick-service restaurant company in the United States and internationally. It operates through Wendy's U.S., Wendy's International, and Global Real Estate & Development segments. The company is involved in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants specializing in hamburger sandwiches.