Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN) Issues FY24 Earnings Guidance

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) updated its FY24 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided EPS guidance of $0.98-1.02 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $1.00.

Wendy's Stock Performance

WEN traded up $0.30 on Thursday, reaching $19.92. The stock had a trading volume of 6,424,227 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,102,492. The business's 50-day moving average price is $18.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.03. The company has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.78. Wendy's has a 12-month low of $17.64 and a 12-month high of $23.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.66.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.02). Wendy's had a return on equity of 56.24% and a net margin of 9.37%. The company had revenue of $540.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $546.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Wendy's will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Wendy's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.02%. Wendy's's dividend payout ratio is presently 102.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Gordon Haskett cut shares of Wendy's from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $21.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a hold rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Wendy's in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Wendy's from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Wendy's from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an equal weight rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Wendy's in a research report on Thursday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wendy's presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $22.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Wendy's news, Director Kenneth W. Gilbert sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.07, for a total transaction of $81,315.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,304 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $565,663.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 17.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Wendy's

The Wendy's Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a quick-service restaurant company in the United States and internationally. It operates through Wendy's U.S., Wendy's International, and Global Real Estate & Development segments. The company is involved in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants specializing in hamburger sandwiches.