Insider Buying: Denny’s Co. (NASDAQ:DENN) EVP Buys 9,815 Shares of Stock

Denny’s Co. (NASDAQ:DENN) EVP Stephen C. Dunn acquired 9,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $5.08 per share, with a total value of $49,860.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 113,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $577,423.28. The trade was a 9.45 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Denny’s Stock Performance

Denny’s stock traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $5.05. 751,966 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,289,944. The stock has a market capitalization of $259.21 million, a P/E ratio of 12.32 and a beta of 2.02. The business’s 50-day moving average is $5.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $6.22. Denny’s Co. has a 12 month low of $4.82 and a 12 month high of $9.52.

Denny’s (NASDAQ:DENN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The restaurant operator reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.01). Denny’s had a net margin of 4.77% and a negative return on equity of 50.01%. On average, equities analysts predict that Denny’s Co. will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Denny’s by 178.4% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 9,618 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 6,163 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Denny’s during the 4th quarter worth $61,000. RPO LLC bought a new position in Denny’s in the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Denny’s by 95.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,239 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 5,970 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Denny’s during the third quarter worth $83,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on DENN. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Denny’s from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Denny’s from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Denny’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wedbush dropped their price target on shares of Denny’s from $10.00 to $8.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Denny’s from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $7.75.

Denny’s Company Profile

Denny’s Corp. engages in the operation of restaurants and franchised, and licensed restaurants. It operates through the Denny’s and Other segments. The Denny’s segment includes the results of all company and franchised and licensed Denny’s restaurants. The Other segment refers to the results of all company and franchise restaurants.