Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Sets New 52-Week Low on Analyst Downgrade

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)’s share price reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $20.00 to $17.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Wendy’s traded as low as $15.32 and last traded at $15.36, with a volume of 603116 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $15.81.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on WEN. Citigroup lifted their target price on Wendy’s from $18.00 to $18.75 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wendy’s presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.14.

Institutional Trading of Wendy’s

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WEN. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 159.6% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,440,880 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $112,844,000 after buying an additional 3,959,480 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Wendy’s by 76.8% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,813,786 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $115,562,000 after acquiring an additional 2,960,526 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its position in Wendy’s by 113.6% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 3,491,376 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $59,214,000 after acquiring an additional 1,856,970 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in Wendy’s by 619.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 866,878 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $14,711,000 after purchasing an additional 746,376 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Wendy’s in the second quarter valued at about $11,018,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Wendy’s Stock Down 2.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $17.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.54.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.25. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 70.02%. The company had revenue of $566.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $560.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. Wendy’s’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is 105.26%.

Wendy’s Company Profile

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.