Denny’s (NASDAQ:DENN) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com lowered shares of Denny’s (NASDAQ:DENN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Denny’s from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Denny’s from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Wedbush dropped their price objective on shares of Denny’s from $11.00 to $10.50 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $11.92.

Denny’s Stock Performance

NASDAQ:DENN opened at $8.44 on Tuesday. Denny’s has a 52-week low of $8.11 and a 52-week high of $12.53. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.52. The company has a market cap of $448.16 million, a PE ratio of 24.11, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.93.

Denny’s (NASDAQ:DENN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $115.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $115.67 million. Denny’s had a net margin of 4.30% and a negative return on equity of 70.78%. Denny’s’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.18 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Denny’s will post 0.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John C. Miller sold 35,359 shares of Denny’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.25, for a total transaction of $327,070.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 740,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,850,790.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Denny’s

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Denny’s by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 278,303 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,028,000 after purchasing an additional 28,502 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Denny’s by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 78,687 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $857,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Denny’s by 281.8% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 81,028 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $882,000 after buying an additional 59,804 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Denny’s by 76.0% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 33,441 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $364,000 after buying an additional 14,436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Denny’s by 199.2% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 78,100 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $850,000 after buying an additional 52,000 shares during the period. 85.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Denny’s Company Profile

Denny's Corporation, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates franchised full-service restaurant chains under the Denny's and Keke's Breakfast Cafe brands in the United States and internationally. The company was formerly known as Advantica Restaurant Group, Inc and changed its name to Denny's Corporation in July 2002.