Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Given “Neutral” Rating at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated their neutral rating on shares of Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a $17.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $20.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $14.00 target price (down from $22.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Wendy’s from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wedbush increased their price target on Wendy’s from $15.50 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.42.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

Shares of Wendy’s stock opened at $15.50 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $15.25 and its 200-day moving average is $17.02. Wendy’s has a one year low of $13.72 and a one year high of $20.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.83.

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

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.45%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 105.26%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wendy’s

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WEN. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Wendy’s by 159.6% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,440,880 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $112,844,000 after buying an additional 3,959,480 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its position in Wendy’s by 3,249.7% during the 4th quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 1,568,348 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,521,527 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Wendy’s by 296.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,882,829 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407,503 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in shares of Wendy’s in the 4th quarter valued at $16,678,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Wendy’s in the 4th quarter valued at $13,358,000. 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 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.