Wendy's Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:WEN)

The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Investors acquired 20,439 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 411% compared to the average daily volume of 4,002 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted 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 valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,220 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Wendy's in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Colonial Trust Co SC acquired a new stake in shares of Wendy's in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position 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. acquired a new stake in Wendy's during the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Wendy's from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Wendy's from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wedbush reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Wendy's in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Argus raised shares of Wendy's to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Wendy's from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $18.08.

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Wendy's Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WEN traded down $0.28 during trading on Friday, reaching $14.74. The stock had a trading volume of 862,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,304,742. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $14.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48. Wendy's has a one year low of $13.72 and a one year high of $20.65. The company has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.50, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.73.

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 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 the consensus estimate of $564.17 million. Wendy's had a net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 75.56%. As a group, research analysts expect that Wendy's will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.79%. Wendy's's payout ratio is presently 105.26%.

Wendy's Company Profile

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.