Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN) Lowered to "Sell" Rating by Northcoast Research

Key Points

• Wendy's has been downgraded from a "neutral" to a "sell" rating by Northcoast Research, with a price target set at $7.00, indicating a potential downside of 24.65% from its last closing price.
• Despite the downgrade, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup have issued more favorable ratings, with target prices of $14.00 and a "strong-buy" rating, respectively.
• Wendy's reported earnings per share of $0.29 for the last quarter, surpassing expectations, though its revenue declined by 1.7% year-over-year.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Northcoast Research from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Finviz reports. They presently have a $7.00 price target on the restaurant operator's stock. Northcoast Research's target price would indicate a potential downside of 24.65% from the stock's previous close.

WEN has been the subject of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Wendy's from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Citigroup raised Wendy's from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Argus reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Wendy's in a research report on Tuesday. Cowen reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Wendy's in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Wendy's from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Wendy's has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $12.66.

Wendy's Trading Up 2.2%

NASDAQ WEN opened at $9.29 on Thursday. Wendy's has a fifty-two week low of $9.08 and a fifty-two week high of $20.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 28.74, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.45. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.74. The stock has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.37.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.04. Wendy's had a return on equity of 103.07% and a net margin of 8.63%.The business had revenue of $560.93 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $558.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. The business's revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Wendy's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.820-0.89 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Wendy's will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Wendy's

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Wendy's by 2.5% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wendy's by 30.1% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,843,438 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $158,092,000 after buying an additional 3,205,269 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Wendy's by 61.3% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,041,012 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $57,568,000 after buying an additional 1,915,465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Wendy's by 89.6% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,987,332 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $43,705,000 after buying an additional 1,411,912 shares during 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.

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