Wendy's (WEN) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Wendy’s Co. (NASDAQ: WEN) operates and franchises the Wendy’s quick-service restaurant chain. Its menu primarily features hamburgers made with fresh, never-frozen beef, along with chicken sandwiches, nuggets, salads, french fries, breakfast items, beverages and the signature Frosty dessert.

Founded by Dave Thomas in Columbus, Ohio, in 1969, Wendy’s has grown into an international restaurant brand. The company serves customers through a network of company-operated and franchised restaurants, with a significant presence in the United States and additional locations in international markets.

In addition to restaurant sales, Wendy’s supports ordering through digital channels, including its mobile application and website, as well as delivery services. Its business strategy centers on expanding the Wendy’s brand through franchising, restaurant development, menu innovation and improvements to the customer experience.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $6.11 to $6.38
• 50-Day Range: $6.25 to $9.12
• 52-Week Range: $6.07 to $10.12
• Volume: 4.55 million shs
• Average Volume: 11.43 million shs
• Market Capitalization: $1.17 billion
• P/E Ratio: 9.27
• Dividend Yield: 4.58%
• Price Target: $7.82
• Consensus Rating: Reduce

Wendy's Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Wendy's scored higher than 86% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 151st out of 481 stocks in the consumer discretionary sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 3.9 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Reduce

Consensus Rating

Wendy's has received a consensus rating of Reduce. The company's average rating score is 1.85, and is based on no strong buy ratings, 2 buy ratings, 13 hold ratings, and 5 sell ratings.

Upside Potential

Wendy's has a consensus price target of $7.82, representing about 26.8% upside from its current price of $6.17.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Wendy's has been the subject of 6 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: N/A

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Wendy's are expected to remain at $0.49 per share in the coming year.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Wendy's is 9.36, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 38.90.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Wendy's is 9.36, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Consumer Discretionary sector average P/E ratio of about 44.22.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

Wendy's has a PEG Ratio of 0.66. PEG Ratios below 1 indicate that a company could be undervalued.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Wendy's has a P/B Ratio of 9.94. P/B Ratios above 3 indicate that a company could be overvalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 1.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Bearish

Percentage of Shares Shorted

30.90% of the float of Wendy's has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Wendy's has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 9.07.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Wendy's has recently increased by 1.82%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing.

Dividend

• Score: 3.3 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Strong

Dividend Leadership

Wendy's is a leading dividend payer. It pays a dividend yield of 4.39%, putting its dividend yield in the top 25% of dividend-paying stocks.

Dividend Growth

Wendy's does not have a long track record of dividend growth.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Wendy's is 42.42%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, Wendy's will have a dividend payout ratio of 57.14% next year. This indicates that Wendy's will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

News and Social Media

• Score: 1.9 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.05

News Sentiment

Wendy's has a news sentiment score of 0.05. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a lower news sentiment than the 0.48 average news sentiment score of Consumer Discretionary companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 21 news articles for Wendy's this week, compared to 9 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

Only 40 people have searched for WEN on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -9% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

Only 13 people have added Wendy's to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -7% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 1.3 / 5
• Insider Trading: N/A

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Wendy's insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

17.10% of the stock of Wendy's is held by insiders. A high percentage of insider ownership can be a sign of company health.

Percentage Held by Institutions

85.96% of the stock of Wendy's is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 8/07/2026
• Record date for 9/15 Dividend: 9/01/2026
• Ex-Dividend for 9/15 Dividend: 9/01/2026
• Dividend Payable: 9/15/2026
• Today: 10/02/2026
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 11/06/2026
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2026

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
• Sector: Consumer Discretionary
• Industry: Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure
• Sub-Industry: Restaurants
• Current Symbol: NASDAQ:WEN
• CIK: 30697
• Web: www.wendys.com
• Phone: (614) 764-3100
• Fax: 678-514-5344
• Employees: 14,900
• Year Founded: 1969

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for Wendy's: $7.82
• High Price Target: $12.00
• Low Price Target: $5.50
• Potential Upside/Downside: +27.8%
• Consensus Rating: Reduce
• Rating Score (0-4): 1.85
• Research Coverage: 20 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $0.66
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 9.27
• Forward P/E Ratio: 12.49
• P/E Growth: 0.66
• Net Income: $165.07 million
• Net Margins: 5.72%
• Pretax Margin: 8.13%
• Return on Equity: 115.31%
• Return on Assets: 2.70%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 27.95
• Current Ratio: 1.90
• Quick Ratio: 1.88

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $2.18 billion
• Price / Sales: 0.54
• Cash Flow: $1.73 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 3.54
• Book Value: $0.62 per share
• Price / Book: 9.87

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 190,670,000
• Free Float: 158,065,000
• Market Cap: $1.17 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.40