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

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during 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 traded. The stock had previously closed at $15.81.

WEN has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $18.00 to $18.75 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.14.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wendy’s

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings 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 during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Wendy’s by 76.8% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,813,786 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $115,562,000 after acquiring an additional 2,960,526 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its holdings in Wendy’s by 113.6% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 3,491,376 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $59,214,000 after purchasing an additional 1,856,970 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in Wendy’s by 619.4% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 866,878 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $14,711,000 after purchasing an additional 746,376 shares during the period. Finally, Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Wendy’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $11,018,000. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wendy’s Trading Down 2.5 %

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.54. 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 company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64.

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

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Wendy’s’s 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.