Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Meets Estimates

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) posted its earnings results on Thursday. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $566.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $560.50 million. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 67.74% and a net margin of 9.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. Wendy’s updated its FY 2024 guidance to 0.990-1.010 EPS and its FY24 guidance to $0.99-$1.01 EPS.

Wendy’s Trading Up 2.9 %

NASDAQ:WEN traded up $0.55 on Friday, hitting $19.66. 4,384,916 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,521,588. The stock has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a PE ratio of 20.71, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $17.92 and a 200-day moving average of $17.71. Wendy’s has a fifty-two week low of $15.61 and a fifty-two week high of $20.65.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.09%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is currently 105.26%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 1,000,000 shares of Wendy’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.18, for a total transaction of $17,180,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,943,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,728,745.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their target price on Wendy’s from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Monday, July 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wendy’s has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.36.

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.