Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Earns Equal Weight Rating from Stephens

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating restated by Stephens in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $15.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock. Stephens’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 5.49% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $14.00 price target (down from $22.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group cut their price target on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Wendy’s from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wendy’s presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.43.

Wendy’s Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WEN opened at $14.22 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.10. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $15.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.15. The stock has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a PE ratio of 14.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.77. Wendy’s has a one year low of $13.98 and a one year high of $20.65.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 70.02% and a net margin of 8.76%. On average, analysts forecast that Wendy’s will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WEN. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wendy’s during the 2nd quarter valued at $421,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in Wendy’s by 21.8% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 42,941 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $752,000 after purchasing an additional 7,685 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 3.7% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 203,162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,559,000 after purchasing an additional 7,180 shares in the last quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 6.5% in the third quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. now owns 11,689 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $205,000 after buying an additional 715 shares during the period. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wendy’s in the third quarter valued at about $212,000. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.