Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Wendy's Put Options (NASDAQ:WEN)

Key Points

• Traders acquired 65,055 put options for Wendy's, marking an 810% increase in volume compared to the average, suggesting heightened bearish sentiment.
• Wendy's reported a net margin of 8.63% and earnings per share (EPS) of $0.29, exceeding consensus estimates by $0.04, despite a 1.7% decline in revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share, which reflects a 6.3% dividend yield, indicating commitment to returning value to shareholders.

The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors acquired 65,055 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 810% compared to the average volume of 7,150 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Wendy's by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 836,626 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $9,554,000 after buying an additional 48,736 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Wendy's by 398.2% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 192,177 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,812,000 after buying an additional 153,604 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 464,444 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Wendy's by 20.1% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 700,472 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $10,248,000 after buying an additional 117,324 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Wendy's by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,577,359 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $37,707,000 after buying an additional 142,500 shares during the period. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WEN. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of Wendy's in a report on Friday, August 8th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Wendy's in a report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Wendy's from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Wendy's from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Wendy's from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Wendy's has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $12.43.

Wendy's Stock Up 3.1%

WEN stock traded up $0.27 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $8.94. The stock had a trading volume of 2,582,060 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,097,923. Wendy's has a one year low of $8.55 and a one year 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 company's 50 day moving average is $9.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.14. The company has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.04. Wendy's had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 103.07%. The business had revenue of $560.93 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $558.95 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue 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. Equities research analysts forecast that Wendy's will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Wendy's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. Wendy's's dividend payout ratio is currently 58.33%.

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.

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