Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Given “Equal Weight” Rating at Stephens

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating restated by stock analysts at Stephens in a research report issued to clients and 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 downside of 3.41% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on WEN. Argus raised shares of Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $15.50 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $14.00 price target (down previously from $22.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $17.00 price target (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.08.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

Shares of WEN opened at $15.53 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $15.08 and a 200-day moving average of $16.94. The company has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a PE ratio of 16.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.77. Wendy’s has a one year low of $13.72 and a one year high of $20.65.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 75.56%. The business had revenue of $574.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $564.17 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Wendy’s will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wendy’s

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 159.6% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,440,880 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $112,844,000 after purchasing an additional 3,959,480 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Wendy’s by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,303,279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $102,743,000 after buying an additional 458,106 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Wendy’s by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,187,593 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $90,887,000 after buying an additional 37,801 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Wendy’s by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,033,560 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $65,747,000 after buying an additional 43,805 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Wendy’s by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,133,832 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $51,081,000 after buying an additional 90,380 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Wendy’s Company Profile

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.