The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the twenty analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $17.97.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WEN. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Wendy's from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley restated an "underweight" rating and set a $14.00 price objective (down previously from $22.00) on shares of Wendy's in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of Wendy's in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Wendy's from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Argus upgraded Wendy's to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th.

Institutional Trading of Wendy's

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake 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 worth $12,461,000 after acquiring an additional 102,769 shares in the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in Wendy's during the 4th quarter worth about $1,733,000. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Wendy's during the fourth quarter valued at about $357,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Wendy's in the fourth quarter worth approximately $13,358,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Wendy's during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,318,000. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wendy's Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WEN traded down $0.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $12.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,278,687 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,196,706. The company has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a PE ratio of 13.61, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.61. Wendy's has a fifty-two week low of $12.05 and a fifty-two week high of $20.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 1.85. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $14.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.37.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 75.56% and a net margin of 8.65%. The company had revenue of $574.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $564.17 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Wendy's will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Wendy's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.74%. Wendy's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.26%.

About Wendy's

The Wendy's Co engages in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants. It operates through the following segments: Wendy's U.S., Wendy's International, and Global Real Estate and Development. The Wendy's U.S. segment includes the operation and franchising of Wendy's restaurants in the U.S.