Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Stock Price

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) had its target price cut by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $14.00 to $13.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “underweight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 9.52% from the company’s current price.

WEN has been the topic of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $14.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.53.

Wendy’s Price Performance

NASDAQ WEN opened at $11.87 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $13.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.76. Wendy’s has a 52 week low of $11.75 and a 52 week high of $20.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.49, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.40.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.20. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 75.56% and a net margin of 8.65%. The business had revenue of $523.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $530.11 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.23 earnings per share. Wendy’s’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Wendy’s will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Abigail E. Pringle sold 136,819 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 203,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,600,494.05. The trade was a 40.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 17.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Wendy’s

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Towerview LLC increased its position in Wendy’s by 20.8% in the 1st quarter. Towerview LLC now owns 14,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 36.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 56,567 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $828,000 after purchasing an additional 15,060 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC raised its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 114.9% during the first quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 68,073 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $996,000 after purchasing an additional 36,399 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the first quarter worth $366,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in Wendy’s in the 1st quarter valued at $552,000. Hedge funds and other 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.