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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.02, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $534.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $540.84 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 9.37% and a return on equity of 56.24%. The company’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 business earned $0.21 EPS. Wendy’s updated its FY24 guidance to $0.98-1.02 EPS.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WEN traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $19.94. 3,617,849 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,110,898. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $18.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.04. 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 has a market capitalization of $4.09 billion, a PE ratio of 20.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.78. Wendy’s has a 12 month low of $17.64 and a 12 month high of $23.90.

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 issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.02%. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is 102.04%.

Insider Activity at Wendy’s

In related news, Director Kenneth W. Gilbert sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 31,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $565,663.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 17.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WEN has been the subject of several recent research reports. 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. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Wendy’s from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Wendy’s currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.60.

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.