Wendy's (WEN) Competitors

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN) and Papa John's International (NASDAQ:PZZA) are both small-cap retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, media sentiment and dividends.

Does the media prefer WEN or PZZA?

In the previous week, Wendy's had 33 more articles in the media than Papa John's International. MarketBeat recorded 38 mentions for Wendy's and 5 mentions for Papa John's International. Papa John's International's average media sentiment score of 1.00 beat Wendy's' score of -0.25 indicating that Papa John's International is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Wendy's	4 Very Positive mention(s)	7 Positive mention(s)	11 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	11 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Papa John's International	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts rate WEN or PZZA?

Wendy's presently has a consensus price target of $14.81, suggesting a potential upside of 48.65%. Papa John's International has a consensus price target of $51.25, suggesting a potential upside of 22.64%. Given Wendy's' higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Wendy's is more favorable than Papa John's International.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Wendy's	2 Sell rating(s)	11 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.35
Papa John's International	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.46

Is WEN or PZZA a better dividend stock?

Wendy's pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.6%. Papa John's International pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. Wendy's pays out 59.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Papa John's International pays out 78.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Papa John's International has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Wendy's is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Is WEN or PZZA more profitable?

Wendy's has a net margin of 8.57% compared to Papa John's International's net margin of 3.77%. Wendy's' return on equity of 85.36% beat Papa John's International's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Wendy's	8.57%	85.36%	3.92%
Papa John's International	3.77%	-15.72%	7.63%

Which has more volatility & risk, WEN or PZZA?

Wendy's has a beta of 0.31, meaning that its stock price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Papa John's International has a beta of 1.13, meaning that its stock price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better earnings and valuation, WEN or PZZA?

Wendy's has higher revenue and earnings than Papa John's International. Wendy's is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Papa John's International, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Wendy's	$2.25B	0.85	$194.36M	$0.94	10.60
Papa John's International	$2.06B	0.66	$83.49M	$2.35	17.78

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in WEN or PZZA?

86.0% of Wendy's shares are owned by institutional investors. 17.0% of Wendy's shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Papa John's International shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Wendy's beats Papa John's International on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.