Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Stock Rating Upgraded by Argus

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) was upgraded by analysts at Argus to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Wendy’s from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wedbush increased their price target on Wendy’s from $15.50 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $14.00 target price (down previously from $22.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.81.

Wendy’s Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ WEN opened at $15.24 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48. The stock has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.04, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.77. Wendy’s has a 12-month low of $13.72 and a 12-month high of $20.65.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 75.56%. The business had revenue of $574.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $564.17 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Wendy’s will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wendy’s

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WEN. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in Wendy’s by 16.9% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 711,267 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $12,461,000 after purchasing an additional 102,769 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Wendy’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $357,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Wendy’s in the fourth quarter worth $1,733,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Wendy’s during the 4th quarter worth about $13,358,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in Wendy’s by 90.8% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 109,747 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,923,000 after purchasing an additional 52,225 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Wendy’s Company Profile

The Wendy’s Co engages in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants. It offers hamburgers and related products, such as chicken breast sandwiches, nuggets, chili, and baked potatoes, French fries, freshly prepared salads, soft drinks, milk, coffee, frosty deserts, and kid’s meals.