Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Given New $23.00 Price Target at Piper Sandler

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) had its price target increased by Piper Sandler from $21.00 to $23.00 in a research note released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on WEN. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Wendy’s from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Stephens reissued an equal weight rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Thursday. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on Wendy’s from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Wendy’s currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $22.60.

Wendy’s Trading Up 0.1 %

Wendy’s stock traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $19.94. 3,617,900 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,569,258. Wendy’s has a 52 week low of $17.64 and a 52 week high of $23.90. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.09 billion, a PE ratio of 20.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.05.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $534.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $540.84 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 9.44% and a return on equity of 62.68%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.21 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Wendy’s will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.02%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 102.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wendy’s news, Director Kenneth W. Gilbert sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 31,304 shares in the company, valued at $565,663.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 17.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Wendy’s

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Trian Fund Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 60.9% in the third quarter. Trian Fund Management L.P. now owns 33,350,743 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $680,689,000 after purchasing an additional 12,618,115 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Wendy’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,627,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Wendy’s by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,248,412 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $413,270,000 after acquiring an additional 1,162,540 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new stake in Wendy’s during the fourth quarter worth approximately $20,574,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 842,856 shares during the period. 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.