Analysts Set The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN) PT at $19.71

The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Hold" from the nineteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $19.71.

WEN has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Wendy's from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $14.00 price objective (down from $22.00) on shares of Wendy's in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Wendy's from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Wendy's from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Wendy's in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th.

Wendy's Stock Performance

Shares of Wendy's stock traded up $0.21 on Friday, hitting $14.82. The stock had a trading volume of 4,680,235 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,656,400. The stock has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.78. The business's 50 day moving average is $16.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.35. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64. Wendy's has a twelve month low of $13.98 and a twelve month high of $20.65.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25. The business had revenue of $566.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $560.50 million. Wendy's had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 70.02%. Wendy's's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Wendy's will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Wendy's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.75%. Wendy's's payout ratio is currently 105.26%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Wendy's by 670.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,402 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,220 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Wendy's in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Wendy's during the second quarter valued at $30,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Wendy's by 168.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,233 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AM Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Wendy's in the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. 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.