Wendy's (WEN) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

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. The company was founded by R. David Thomas on November 15, 1969 and is headquartered in Dublin, OH.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $15.17 to $15.55
• 50-Day Range: $14.17 to $17.06
• 52-Week Range: $13.72 to $20.65
• Volume: 6.27 million shs
• Average Volume: 5.39 million shs
• Market Capitalization: $3.10 billion
• P/E Ratio: 16.01
• Dividend Yield: 6.57%
• Price Target: $18.73
• Consensus Rating: Hold

Wendy's Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Wendy's scored higher than 90% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 31st out of 216 stocks in the retail/wholesale sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 3.2 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Hold

Consensus Rating

Wendy's has received a consensus rating of Hold. The company's average rating score is 2.33, and is based on 4 buy ratings, 10 hold ratings, and 2 sell ratings.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Wendy's has been the subject of 9 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 13.13%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Wendy's are expected to grow by 13.13% in the coming year, from $0.99 to $1.12 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Wendy's is 16.01, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 23.53.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Wendy's is 16.01, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Retail/Wholesale sector average P/E ratio of about 25.05.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

Wendy's has a PEG Ratio of 2.00. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Wendy's has a P/B Ratio of 11.98. P/B Ratios above 3 indicate that a company could be overvalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 3.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

5.11% of the float of Wendy's has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Wendy's has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 2.4, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Wendy's has recently decreased by 1.76%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving.

Dividend

• Score: 1.7 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Weak

Dividend Leadership

Wendy's is a leading dividend payer. It pays a dividend yield of 6.56%, putting its dividend yield in the top 25% of dividend-paying stocks.

Dividend Growth

Wendy's does not have a long track record of dividend growth.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Wendy's is 105.26%. Payout ratios above 75% are not desirable because they may not be sustainable.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on EPS estimates, Wendy's will have a dividend payout ratio of 89.29% in the coming year. This indicates that Wendy's may not be able to sustain their current dividend.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: 1.8 / 5
• Environmental Score: -2.19

Percentage of Shares Shorted

5.11% of the float of Wendy's has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Wendy's has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 2.4, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Wendy's has recently decreased by 1.76%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving.

News and Social Media

• Score: 1.8 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.22

News Sentiment

Wendy's has a news sentiment score of 0.22. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a lower news sentiment than the 0.69 average news sentiment score of Retail/Wholesale companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 39 news articles for Wendy's this week, compared to 27 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

Only 23 people have searched for WEN on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -21% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

Only 5 people have added Wendy's to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -64% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Insider Trading: N/A

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Wendy's insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

17.10% of the stock of Wendy's is held by insiders. A high percentage of insider ownership can be a sign of company health.

Percentage Held by Institutions

85.96% of the stock of Wendy's is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

WEN Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have WEN shares performed this year?

Wendy's' stock was trading at $16.30 at the beginning of 2025. Since then, WEN stock has decreased by 6.7% and is now trading at $15.21.
View the best growth stocks for 2025 here.

How were Wendy's' earnings last quarter?

The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN) released its earnings results on Thursday, February, 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. The restaurant operator earned $574.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $564.17 million. Wendy's had a net margin of 8.65% and a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 75.56%.

Who are Wendy's' major shareholders?

Top institutional investors of Wendy's include Trian Fund Management L.P. (14.97%), Vanguard Group Inc. (10.35%), AQR Capital Management LLC (5.11%) and Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. (3.09%). Insiders that own company stock include Nelson Peltz, Matthew H Peltz, Liliana Esposito, Kenneth W Gilbert, Joseph A Levato and Juan Carlos Loredo.
View institutional ownership trends.

How do I buy shares of Wendy's?

Shares of WEN stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.

What other stocks do shareholders of Wendy's own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that Wendy's investors own include American Water Works (AWK), Humana (HUM), Waste Connections (WCN), The RMR Group (RMR), DiamondRock Hospitality (DRH), iShares Micro-Cap ETF (IWC) and Voyager Therapeutics (VYGR).

Company Calendar

• Ex-Dividend for 12/16 Dividend: 12/02/2024
• Dividend Payable: 12/16/2024
• Last Earnings: 2/13/2025
• Today: 2/22/2025
• Ex-Dividend for 3/17 Dividend: 3/03/2025
• Dividend Payable: 3/17/2025
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 5/01/2025
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2025

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
• Sector: Retail/Wholesale
• Industry: Eating & drinking places
• Sub-Industry: Restaurants
• Current Symbol: NASDAQ:WEN
• CUSIP: 95058W10
• CIK: 30697
• Web: www.wendys.com
• Phone: (614) 764-3100
• Fax: 678-514-5344
• Employees: 15,300
• Year Founded: N/A

Price Target and Rating

• Average Stock Price Target: $18.73
• High Stock Price Target: $29.00
• Low Stock Price Target: $14.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +23.2%
• Consensus Rating: Hold
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.33
• Research Coverage: 18 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Most Recent Fiscal Year): $0.95
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 16.01
• Forward P/E Ratio: 15.36
• P/E Growth: 2.04
• Net Income: $194.36 million
• Net Margins: 8.65%
• Pretax Margin: 12.13%
• Return on Equity: 75.56%
• Return on Assets: 4.03%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 12.48
• Current Ratio: 1.85
• Quick Ratio: 1.83

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $2.25 billion
• Price / Sales: 1.38
• Cash Flow: $1.75 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 8.71
• Book Value: $1.27 per share
• Price / Book: 11.98

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 203,850,000
• Free Float: 168,988,000
• Market Cap: $3.10 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.77