Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Price Target Lowered to $9.00 at TD Cowen

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) had its price objective trimmed by TD Cowen from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on WEN. Truist Financial set a $12.00 price target on Wendy’s in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $12.00 target price (down previously from $15.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Wendy’s from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.86.

Wendy’s Stock Down 4.8%

Shares of Wendy’s stock opened at $8.54 on Monday. Wendy’s has a twelve month low of $8.39 and a twelve month high of $19.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 28.74. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.90, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.38.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.04. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 103.07%. The company had revenue of $442.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $535.75 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Wendy’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.820-0.890 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Wendy’s will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wendy’s

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Wendy’s by 2.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,634,226 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $316,509,000 after purchasing an additional 536,071 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 30.1% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,843,438 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $158,092,000 after buying an additional 3,205,269 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,767,723 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $99,012,000 after purchasing an additional 464,444 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 61.3% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,041,012 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $57,568,000 after acquiring an additional 1,915,465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Wendy’s by 89.6% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,987,332 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $43,705,000 after buying an additional 1,411,912 shares during 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 operates through the following segments: Wendy’s U.S., Wendy’s International, and Global Real Estate and Development. The Wendy’s U.S. segment includes the operation and franchising of Wendy’s restaurants in the U.S.