Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN) Receives Neutral Rating from BTIG Research

Key Points

• BTIG Research has reaffirmed a "Neutral" rating for Wendy's stock, which is currently trading at approximately $9.66.
• Analysts are divided on Wendy's, with two holding a Strong Buy rating and a consensus price target of $12.97.
• Wendy's reported a quarterly EPS of $0.29, beating estimates, but experienced a 1.7% decline in revenue year-over-year.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "neutral" rating reaffirmed by BTIG Research in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on WEN. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on Wendy's from $21.00 to $16.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $13.00 price objective on shares of Wendy's in a report on Friday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating on shares of Wendy's in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Wendy's from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Citigroup raised Wendy's from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $12.97.

Wendy's Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of WEN traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $9.38. The company had a trading volume of 2,861,643 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,982,165. Wendy's has a 52-week low of $9.32 and a 52-week high of $20.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 28.74. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $10.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.90. The firm has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.37.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.04. Wendy's had a return on equity of 103.07% and a net margin of 8.63%.The business had revenue of $560.93 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $558.95 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. Wendy's's revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Wendy's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.820-0.89 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Wendy's will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Wendy's

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Wendy's by 2.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,634,226 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $316,509,000 after buying an additional 536,071 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Wendy's by 30.1% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,843,438 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $158,092,000 after buying an additional 3,205,269 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Wendy's by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,767,723 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $99,012,000 after acquiring an additional 464,444 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Wendy's by 61.3% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,041,012 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $57,568,000 after acquiring an additional 1,915,465 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Wendy's by 89.6% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,987,332 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $43,705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,411,912 shares during the period. 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 operates through the following segments: Wendy's U.S., Wendy's International, and Global Real Estate and Development. The Wendy's U.S. segment includes the operation and franchising of Wendy's restaurants in the U.S.