Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Shares Up 4.9% – Here’s Why

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) shot up 4.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $15.90 and last traded at $15.96. 1,649,491 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 5,121,864 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.21.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WEN has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group reduced their price target on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $15.50 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.73.

Wendy’s Stock 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $15.32 and its 200-day moving average is $17.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.82, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 105.26%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wendy’s

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Wendy’s by 159.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 3,249.7% in the 4th quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 1,568,348 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,564,000 after buying an additional 1,521,527 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Wendy’s by 296.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,882,829 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,690,000 after acquiring an additional 1,407,503 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in Wendy’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $16,678,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Wendy’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $13,358,000. 85.96% of the stock is currently 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.