Wedbush Reaffirms Neutral Rating for Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN)

Wedbush reissued their neutral rating on shares of Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $16.00 price target on the restaurant operator's stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on WEN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $17.00 target price (down from $20.00) on shares of Wendy's in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Wendy's from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Wendy's from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of Wendy's in a research note on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Wendy's from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $18.08.

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Wendy's Trading Up 2.4 %

NASDAQ:WEN traded up $0.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $15.53. 8,100,099 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,891,168. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.35, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.77. Wendy's has a 52 week low of $13.72 and a 52 week high of $20.65. The firm's 50 day moving average is $15.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $574.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $564.17 million. Wendy's had a net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 75.56%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Wendy's will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Wendy's Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.44%. Wendy's's payout ratio is 105.26%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wendy's

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,220 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Wendy's during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Colonial Trust Co SC purchased a new stake in Wendy's during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Wendy's by 168.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,233 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AM Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Wendy's in the third quarter worth $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.