Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The restaurant operator reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.02, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $534.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $540.84 million. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 56.24% and a net margin of 9.37%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.21 EPS. Wendy’s updated its FY24 guidance to $0.98-1.02 EPS.

Wendy’s Price Performance

Shares of WEN traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $19.94. 3,617,849 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,110,898. The company has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.78. Wendy’s has a fifty-two week low of $17.64 and a fifty-two week high of $23.90. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.66. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $18.77 and its 200 day moving average is $19.04.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 3rd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 102.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Wendy’s from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Wendy’s from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Gordon Haskett cut Wendy’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $21.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut Wendy’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $24.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.60.

Insider Transactions at Wendy’s

In other news, Director Kenneth W. Gilbert sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.07, for a total transaction of $81,315.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 31,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $565,663.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 17.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.