Truist Financial Lowers Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN) Price Target to $19.00

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) had its target price cut by equities researchers at Truist Financial from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the restaurant operator's stock. Truist Financial's target price points to a potential upside of 26.75% from the stock's current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on Wendy's from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Wendy's from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Wendy's from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Wedbush boosted their price target on Wendy's from $15.50 to $16.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Wendy's in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $18.93.

Remove Ads

Wendy's Stock Performance

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

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WEN. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in shares of Wendy's by 16.9% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 711,267 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $12,461,000 after purchasing an additional 102,769 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Wendy's in the 4th quarter worth about $357,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Wendy's in the 4th quarter valued at about $13,358,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 52,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wendy's during the 4th quarter worth about $464,000. 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.