Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Reaches New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading 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 changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $15.81.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on WEN. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Wendy’s from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.14.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wendy’s

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. 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 purchasing an additional 2,960,526 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew 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. State Street Corp increased its stake in Wendy’s by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,187,593 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $90,887,000 after acquiring an additional 37,801 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Wendy’s by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,094,694 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $69,446,000 after acquiring an additional 70,514 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 113.6% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 3,491,376 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $59,214,000 after acquiring an additional 1,856,970 shares during the period. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wendy’s Trading Down 2.5 %

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 company has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $17.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.54.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25. The firm had revenue of $566.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $560.50 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 70.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.49%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.26%.

About Wendy’s

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.