Denny's (NASDAQ:DENN) Upgraded to "Buy" by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Denny's (NASDAQ:DENN - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on DENN. Wedbush reduced their price target on Denny's from $11.00 to $10.50 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Denny's from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on Denny's from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Denny's has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $11.92.

Denny's Trading Down 2.1 %

DENN traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $8.48. 411,261 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 489,336. The firm's fifty day moving average is $9.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.53. Denny's has a 1-year low of $8.11 and a 1-year high of $12.53. The company has a market cap of $450.29 million, a PE ratio of 24.23, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.93.

Denny's (NASDAQ:DENN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.03). Denny's had a negative return on equity of 70.78% and a net margin of 4.30%. The firm had revenue of $115.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $115.67 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.18 EPS. Denny's's revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Denny's will post 0.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John C. Miller sold 35,359 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.25, for a total value of $327,070.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 740,626 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,850,790.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 5.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Denny's

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Denny's in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY grew its position in shares of Denny's by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 3,535 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 844 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Denny's by 100.8% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,317 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,665 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Denny's by 37.3% in the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,920 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Denny's by 126.7% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,538 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 2,536 shares during the period. 85.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Denny's

Denny's Corporation, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates franchised full-service restaurant chains under the Denny's and Keke's Breakfast Cafe brands in the United States and internationally. The company was formerly known as Advantica Restaurant Group, Inc and changed its name to Denny's Corporation in July 2002.