Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Argus

Argus upgraded shares of Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on WEN. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.81.

Wendy’s Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WEN opened at $15.24 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.04, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.77. Wendy’s has a one year low of $13.72 and a one year high of $20.65. The company’s fifty day moving average is $15.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 1.85.

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

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.56%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is currently 105.26%.

Institutional Trading of Wendy’s

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Wendy’s by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 92,132 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,614,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Wendy’s by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 25,529 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Wendy’s by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 57,400 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $979,000 after purchasing an additional 797 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Wendy’s by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 15,634 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Wendy’s by 46.4% in the 4th quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,107 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

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.