Wendy's' (WEN) "Equal Weight" Rating Reiterated at Stephens

Stephens reissued their equal weight rating on shares of Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $15.00 price objective on the restaurant operator's stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on WEN. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of Wendy's in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Wendy's from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Wendy's from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $14.00 price target (down previously from $22.00) on shares of Wendy's in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Wendy's from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wendy's currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $18.08.

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Wendy's Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of WEN traded up $0.37 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $15.53. 8,100,099 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,891,168. The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.35, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.73. The business's 50-day moving average price is $15.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.93. Wendy's has a 1 year low of $13.72 and a 1 year high of $20.65.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 75.56%. The business had revenue of $574.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $564.17 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Wendy's will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy's Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wendy's

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Wendy's by 670.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,402 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,220 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Wendy's in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Colonial Trust Co SC purchased a new position in Wendy's during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Wendy's in the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. 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.