The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Short Interest Update

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 16,890,000 shares, an increase of 16.1% from the February 13th total of 14,550,000 shares. Currently, 9.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 4,930,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Wendy’s Stock Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ WEN opened at $15.47 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48. The company has a fifty day moving average of $14.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.73. Wendy’s has a 52 week low of $13.72 and a 52 week high of $20.65.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during 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%. On average, analysts predict that Wendy’s will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WEN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $17.00 price objective (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.08.

Institutional Trading of Wendy’s

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 670.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,402 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Colonial Trust Co SC purchased a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 168.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,233 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Wendy’s in the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. 85.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.