Denny's Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:DENN)

Key Points

• Denny's Corporation experienced a significant spike in options trading, with 21,666 put options traded, marking an increase of approximately 3,935% from the average.
• Benchmark lowered its price target for Denny's from $8.00 to $6.00, while five analysts maintain a Buy rating and one a Hold rating, leading to an average consensus target of $6.46.
• The company's recent earnings report showed a miss on EPS, reporting $0.09 compared to an estimate of $0.10, alongside a slight revenue increase of 1.0% year-over-year despite a net margin of only 3.53%.

Denny's Corporation (NASDAQ:DENN - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders acquired 21,666 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 3,935% compared to the average volume of 537 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on DENN shares. Benchmark cut their price target on Denny's from $8.00 to $6.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Piper Sandler set a $4.00 price objective on Denny's and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $6.46.

Denny's Stock Performance

NASDAQ DENN traded up $0.39 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $5.52. 1,415,533 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,033,291. The company has a market capitalization of $284.28 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.81 and a beta of 1.62. Denny's has a one year low of $2.85 and a one year high of $7.73. The company's 50-day moving average is $4.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.02.

Denny's (NASDAQ:DENN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The restaurant operator reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.01). Denny's had a net margin of 3.53% and a negative return on equity of 59.51%. The company had revenue of $117.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $118.14 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.13 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Denny's will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Denny's by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 248,815 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,505,000 after acquiring an additional 59,785 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Denny's by 128.1% in the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 405,156 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,451,000 after buying an additional 227,544 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in Denny's by 55.7% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 61,351 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 21,944 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Denny's by 203.7% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 33,843 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $205,000 after buying an additional 22,700 shares during the period. Finally, Man Group plc acquired a new position in Denny's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $94,000. Institutional investors own 85.07% of the company's stock.

Denny's Company Profile

Denny's Corp. engages in the operation of restaurants and franchised, and licensed restaurants. It operates through the Denny's and Other segments. The Denny's segment includes the results of all company and franchised and licensed Denny's restaurants. The Other segment refers to the results of all company and franchise restaurants.

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