The Wendy’s Company (WEN) – What Are Analysts Thinking About This Stock?

Shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) have received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the eighteen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have given a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $7.56.

WEN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley set a $5.50 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $6.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Argus cut Wendy’s from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th.

Wendy’s Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of Wendy’s stock opened at $8.15 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.37. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $7.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.95, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.88. Wendy’s has a 1 year low of $5.94 and a 1 year high of $10.12.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $435.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $531.28 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 5.72% and a return on equity of 115.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.24 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Wendy’s will post 0.50 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be given a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 1st. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.42%.

Institutional Trading of Wendy’s

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Trian Fund Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Wendy’s during the second quarter valued at approximately $252,583,000. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 21.1% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 26,314,724 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $218,149,000 after acquiring an additional 4,576,075 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Wendy’s by 20.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,566,985 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $54,440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101,063 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Wendy’s by 5.6% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,493,752 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,232,000 after purchasing an additional 236,541 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in Wendy’s in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,062,000. Institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Key Wendy’s News

Here are the key news stories impacting Wendy’s this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wendy’s reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.13 per share, above analysts’ estimates, and launched its multi-year “Dave’s Way” plan to improve traffic, market share and restaurant profitability. Quarterly results and strategy
• Positive Sentiment: The company is refreshing its menu for 2027 and tailoring breakfast offerings by location after tests found that scaling back breakfast in some locations improved profitability. These moves could help the turnaround if they attract customers and lift margins. Menu refresh
• Positive Sentiment: Wendy’s is considering acquiring as many as 163 Meritage Hospitality Group restaurants, which could give it more control over locations and support its franchise portfolio strategy, though the deal is not final. Potential restaurant acquisition
• Neutral Sentiment: Citigroup and Stephens raised their price targets to $8, while keeping neutral and equal-weight ratings, respectively. Both targets are slightly below the cited share price, suggesting limited near-term upside in their views.
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the earnings beat, quarterly earnings were below the year-ago level and revenue declined year over year, underscoring the traffic and sales challenges the turnaround must address.
• Negative Sentiment: The board rejected Trian’s $7.35-per-share buyout proposal as undervaluing Wendy’s and adopted a limited-duration “poison pill.” The offer was below the cited recent share price, but blocking it leaves investors reliant on management’s turnaround and may prolong activist-related uncertainty. Buyout proposal rejection

About Wendy’s

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ: WEN) operates and franchises quick-service restaurants under the Wendy’s brand. Its restaurants are known for hamburgers made with fresh, never-frozen beef, along with chicken sandwiches, salads, fries, breakfast items, desserts, and beverages.

Founded by Dave Thomas in 1969, Wendy’s has grown into an international restaurant chain with locations primarily in the United States and Canada, as well as select markets in other countries. The company’s restaurant system includes both company-operated and franchised locations.

In addition to its restaurant operations, Wendy’s supports customers through digital ordering, delivery, loyalty programs, and mobile applications.