Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN) Given a $13.00 Price Target at Truist Financial

Key Points

• Truist Financial has lowered its price target for Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN) from $14.00 to $13.00, maintaining a "buy" rating, which implies a 25.25% potential upside from the previous close.
• Wendy's reported quarterly earnings of $0.29 per share, exceeding the consensus estimate, despite a 1.7% revenue decline from the previous year.
• A mix of financial analysts have rated Wendy's stock with a consensus rating of "Hold," while it has been assigned price targets as low as $11.00 by some brokerages.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) received a $13.00 target price from analysts at Truist Financial in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the restaurant operator's stock. Truist Financial's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 28.59% from the company's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WEN. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of Wendy's in a research note on Friday. BTIG Research reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Wendy's in a research report on Friday. Stephens reduced their target price on Wendy's from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $11.00 price target (down previously from $14.00) on shares of Wendy's in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Wendy's in a research report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $13.87.

Wendy's Stock Performance

Shares of WEN opened at $10.11 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.94 billion, a PE ratio of 10.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $11.02 and a 200-day moving average of $12.77. Wendy's has a one year low of $9.74 and a one year high of $20.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 28.74, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.43.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $560.93 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $558.95 million. Wendy's had a return on equity of 103.07% and a net margin of 8.63%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.27 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Wendy's will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Lindsay J. Radkoski purchased 5,050 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $11.68 per share, with a total value of $58,984.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief marketing officer owned 28,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $338,206.08. This represents a 21.12% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 17.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Wendy's

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Wendy's by 5.9% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,577,359 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $37,707,000 after buying an additional 142,500 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Wendy's by 22.6% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 200,375 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,931,000 after acquiring an additional 36,954 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Wendy's during the 1st quarter valued at $1,084,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Wendy's during the first quarter worth $326,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Wendy's by 84,261.8% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 596,438 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $8,726,000 after purchasing an additional 595,731 shares during the period. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Wendy's

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.