Citigroup Issues Positive Forecast for Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Stock Price

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) had its price target hoisted by Citigroup from $15.50 to $16.50 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on WEN. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $17.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Tuesday. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Friday. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Wendy’s has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.08.

Wendy’s Trading Up 2.4 %

NASDAQ WEN opened at $15.53 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a PE ratio of 16.35, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48. Wendy’s has a 12 month low of $13.72 and a 12 month high of $20.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $15.08 and a 200-day moving average of $16.94.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $574.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $564.17 million. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 75.56% and a net margin of 8.65%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Wendy’s will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is currently 105.26%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WEN. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in shares of Wendy’s by 7.3% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 19,827 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,345 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Wendy’s by 9.1% in the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 105,952 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,856,000 after purchasing an additional 8,876 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Wendy’s in the third quarter worth $220,000. Atria Investments Inc increased its position in shares of Wendy’s by 78.7% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 94,442 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,655,000 after purchasing an additional 41,586 shares during the period. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its position in Wendy’s by 6.9% in the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 117,025 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,050,000 after acquiring an additional 7,558 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 offers hamburgers and related products, such as chicken breast sandwiches, nuggets, chili, and baked potatoes, French fries, freshly prepared salads, soft drinks, milk, coffee, frosty deserts, and kid’s meals.