Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Stock Price Down 2.1% – What’s Next?

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) traded down 2.1% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $15.04 and last traded at $14.94. 270,657 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 93% from the average session volume of 3,948,186 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.26.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on WEN shares. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Friday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $14.00 price objective (down from $22.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group upped their price target on Wendy’s from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on Wendy’s from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wendy’s has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.08.

Wendy’s Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 1.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a PE ratio of 15.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.73. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $14.98 and its 200 day moving average is $16.83.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 75.56% and a net margin of 8.65%. The company had revenue of $574.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $564.17 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.26%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wendy’s

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 62.5% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 35,726 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $626,000 after purchasing an additional 13,747 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Wendy’s in the 3rd quarter worth $258,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in Wendy’s by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 56,603 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $992,000 after buying an additional 1,794 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in shares of Wendy’s by 1,653.5% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 376,978 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,605,000 after acquiring an additional 355,480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Wendy’s by 202.6% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 253,036 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,433,000 after purchasing an additional 169,407 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

About Wendy’s

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.