The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Investors purchased 11,458 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 73% compared to the typical volume of 6,613 put options.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research firms have weighed in on WEN. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Wendy's from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Wendy's from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Wendy's from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Citigroup upped their price target on Wendy's from $15.50 to $16.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Wendy's from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Two equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $16.34.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Wendy's
Wendy's Stock Performance
WEN traded down $0.13 during trading on Friday, reaching $11.99. 3,702,716 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,270,374. 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 1 year low of $11.70 and a 1 year high of $20.60. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $13.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.40.
Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20. The company had revenue of $523.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.23 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Wendy's will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Wendy's Cuts Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.67%. Wendy's's dividend payout ratio is currently 59.57%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, insider Abigail E. Pringle sold 136,819 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.81, for a total transaction of $1,752,651.39. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 203,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,600,494.05. This represents a 40.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 17.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Institutional Trading of Wendy's
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new position in Wendy's during the 3rd quarter valued at about $763,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wendy's by 168.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,233 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Wendy's by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 152,549 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,673,000 after buying an additional 2,087 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Wendy's during the 4th quarter worth approximately $357,000. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wendy's in the fourth quarter worth $516,000. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
About Wendy's
(
Get Free Report)
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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