Denny’s (NASDAQ:DENN) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Denny’s (NASDAQ:DENN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Friday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Wedbush reduced their price target on Denny’s from $11.00 to $10.50 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Denny’s from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Denny’s from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Denny’s currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $11.92.

Denny’s Stock Performance

Shares of Denny’s stock opened at $8.20 on Friday. Denny’s has a 52-week low of $8.00 and a 52-week high of $12.53. The company has a fifty day moving average of $8.91 and a 200-day moving average of $9.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $435.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.93.

Denny’s (NASDAQ:DENN) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $115.67 million. Denny’s had a net margin of 4.30% and a negative return on equity of 70.78%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.18 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Denny’s will post 0.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Denny’s

In related news, Director John C. Miller sold 35,359 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.25, for a total value of $327,070.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 740,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,850,790.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Denny’s

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DENN. Fruth Investment Management grew its stake in shares of Denny’s by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Fruth Investment Management now owns 26,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in Denny’s by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 15,546 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $169,000 after acquiring an additional 2,186 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Denny’s by 126.7% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,538 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 2,536 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Denny’s by 3.5% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 93,023 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $788,000 after acquiring an additional 3,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Denny’s by 29.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 18,482 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $157,000 after purchasing an additional 4,233 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

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.