Stephens Reiterates “Equal Weight” Rating for Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN)

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Stephens in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $20.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock. Stephens’ target price suggests a potential upside of 1.94% from the company’s previous close.

WEN has been the subject of a number of other reports. Barclays lowered Wendy’s from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $21.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Wendy’s from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Wendy’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Wendy’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.53.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WEN opened at $19.62 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a PE ratio of 20.02, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.78. Wendy’s has a 1 year low of $17.64 and a 1 year high of $23.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.66. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.03.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.02). Wendy’s had a net margin of 9.37% and a return on equity of 56.24%. The business had revenue of $540.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $546.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wendy’s will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wendy’s

In related news, Director Kenneth W. Gilbert sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.07, for a total value of $81,315.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 31,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $565,663.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wendy’s

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEN. Trian Fund Management L.P. grew its holdings in Wendy’s by 60.9% during the 3rd quarter. Trian Fund Management L.P. now owns 33,350,743 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $680,689,000 after acquiring an additional 12,618,115 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the fourth quarter worth $27,627,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Wendy’s by 6.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,248,412 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $413,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162,540 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new position in Wendy’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $20,574,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Wendy’s by 193.7% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,277,958 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,083,000 after buying an additional 842,856 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

About Wendy’s

The Wendy's Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a quick-service restaurant company in the United States and internationally. It operates through Wendy's U.S., Wendy's International, and Global Real Estate & Development segments. The company is involved in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants specializing in hamburger sandwiches.