Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN) Given New $21.00 Price Target at Loop Capital

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) had its price target decreased by investment analysts at Loop Capital from $26.00 to $21.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the restaurant operator's stock. Loop Capital's target price indicates a potential upside of 75.15% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Wendy's from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Argus upgraded shares of Wendy's to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Wendy's from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Wendy's from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, TD Securities cut their price objective on Wendy's from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Wendy's presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $16.34.

Wendy's Stock Down 1.1 %

WEN stock traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $11.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,702,716 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,270,374. The company's fifty day moving average price is $13.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.83. Wendy's has a twelve month low of $11.70 and a twelve month high of $20.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.62, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.40.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20. The business had revenue of $523.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $530.11 million. Wendy's had a return on equity of 75.56% and a net margin of 8.65%. Wendy's's quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Wendy's will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Wendy's

In other Wendy's news, insider Abigail E. Pringle sold 136,819 shares of Wendy's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.81, for a total value of $1,752,651.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 203,005 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,600,494.05. The trade was a 40.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 17.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Wendy's by 2.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,634,226 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $316,509,000 after buying an additional 536,071 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Wendy's by 7.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 464,444 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Wendy's by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,033,560 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $65,747,000 after acquiring an additional 43,805 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Wendy's by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,133,832 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $51,081,000 after acquiring an additional 90,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Wendy's by 5.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 142,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.96% of the company's stock.

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.