Citigroup Increases Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Price Target to $21.00

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) had its target price increased by Citigroup from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Wendy’s from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and decreased their target price for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. TD Cowen reissued a hold rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Wendy’s from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an equal weight rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Thursday. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $22.60.

Wendy’s Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WEN opened at $19.94 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.14, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.78. Wendy’s has a 12 month low of $17.64 and a 12 month high of $23.90. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.05. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.21.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $534.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $540.84 million. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 62.68% and a net margin of 9.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.21 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Wendy’s will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.02%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 3rd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kenneth W. Gilbert sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.07, for a total value of $81,315.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $565,663.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Trian Fund Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Wendy’s by 60.9% during the third quarter. Trian Fund Management L.P. now owns 33,350,743 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $680,689,000 after acquiring an additional 12,618,115 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Wendy’s during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,627,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Wendy’s by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,248,412 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $413,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162,540 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new position in shares of Wendy’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,574,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Wendy’s by 193.7% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,277,958 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,083,000 after buying an additional 842,856 shares during the period. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.