Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN) Price Target Lowered to $17.00 at Truist Financial

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) had its target price lowered by Truist Financial from $19.00 to $17.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the restaurant operator's stock.

WEN has been the subject of several other reports. Barclays boosted their price target on Wendy's from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Wendy's from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Wendy's from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Wendy's from $15.50 to $16.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, TD Securities reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Wendy's in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Wendy's has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $17.69.

Wendy's Stock Performance

WEN traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $12.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,633,961 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,250,443. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 1.85. The company's 50-day moving average is $14.33 and its 200-day moving average is $16.09. Wendy's has a 52 week low of $12.05 and a 52 week high of $20.65. The firm has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a PE ratio of 13.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.61.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. Wendy's had a net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 75.56%. The company had revenue of $574.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $564.17 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Wendy's will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Wendy's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.82%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Wendy's's dividend payout ratio is currently 105.26%.

Institutional Trading of Wendy's

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its stake in Wendy's by 16.9% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 711,267 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $12,461,000 after buying an additional 102,769 shares during the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in Wendy's during the 4th quarter worth about $1,733,000. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Wendy's in the 4th quarter worth about $357,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Wendy's in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,318,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Wendy's during the 4th quarter valued at about $13,358,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.96% of the company's stock.

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.