Wendys (WEN) Upgraded to “Outperform” by Wedbush

Wendys (NASDAQ:WEN) was upgraded by analysts at Wedbush from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $20.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock. Wedbush’s target price points to a potential upside of 20.63% from the company’s previous close.

WEN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. BidaskClub cut shares of Wendys from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, September 9th. Longbow Research upgraded shares of Wendys from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $15.23 to $18.00 in a report on Friday, September 15th. SunTrust Banks restated a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Wendys in a report on Monday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of Wendys in a report on Monday, October 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $18.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Wendys from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.52.

Wendys (NASDAQ WEN) traded up $0.18 on Wednesday, hitting $16.58. 5,214,517 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,976,030. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.83, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 1.80. The company has a market capitalization of $4,010.00, a P/E ratio of 38.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.93. Wendys has a twelve month low of $13.03 and a twelve month high of $16.98.

Wendys (NASDAQ:WEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $308.00 million for the quarter. Wendys had a return on equity of 20.35% and a net margin of 5.20%. Wendys’s revenue was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.11 earnings per share. equities analysts anticipate that Wendys will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In related news, insider Scott A. Weisberg purchased 10,000 shares of Wendys stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $14.29 per share, for a total transaction of $142,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 199,014 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,843,910.06. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider E.J. Wunsch sold 3,548 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.43, for a total transaction of $54,745.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 26.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WEN. Aperio Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Wendys by 10.1% in the second quarter. Aperio Group LLC now owns 29,354 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 2,703 shares in the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can lifted its position in shares of Wendys by 3.2% in the second quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 120,505 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,868,000 after purchasing an additional 3,752 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Wendys by 83.8% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 51,095 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $792,000 after purchasing an additional 23,289 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Wendys by 0.7% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 80,700 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,252,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in shares of Wendys by 2.6% in the second quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 16,544 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. 76.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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About Wendys

The Wendy’s Company is the parent company of subsidiary holding company Wendy’s Restaurants, LLC (Wendy’s Restaurants). Wendy’s Restaurants is the parent company of Wendy’s International, LLC (Wendy’s), which is the owner and franchisor of the Wendy’s restaurant system in the United States. Wendy’s is a restaurant company specializing in the hamburger sandwich segment.