Denny’s Co. (NASDAQ:DENN) Receives $7.75 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Denny’s Co. (NASDAQ:DENN) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $7.75.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Denny’s from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com cut Denny’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wedbush reduced their price objective on Denny’s from $10.00 to $8.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Denny’s from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on Denny’s from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th.

Denny’s Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ DENN opened at $4.12 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $212.64 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.05 and a beta of 2.08. Denny’s has a twelve month low of $4.00 and a twelve month high of $9.27. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.10.

Denny’s (NASDAQ:DENN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The restaurant operator reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.01). Denny’s had a net margin of 4.77% and a negative return on equity of 50.01%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Denny’s will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Denny’s

In other news, EVP Stephen C. Dunn purchased 9,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $5.08 per share, with a total value of $49,860.20. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 113,666 shares in the company, valued at $577,423.28. This trade represents a 9.45 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kelli Valade acquired 9,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $5.13 per share, for a total transaction of $49,761.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 192,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $989,094.78. This represents a 5.30 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 20,465 shares of company stock valued at $104,457. Company insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Denny’s by 178.4% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 9,618 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 6,163 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of Denny’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $61,000. RPO LLC acquired a new stake in Denny’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Denny’s by 95.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,239 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 5,970 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Denny’s in the third quarter worth approximately $83,000. 85.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Denny’s

Denny’s Corp. engages in the operation of restaurants and franchised, and licensed restaurants. It operates through the Denny’s and Other segments. The Denny’s segment includes the results of all company and franchised and licensed Denny’s restaurants. The Other segment refers to the results of all company and franchise restaurants.