Insider Buying: Denny’s Co. (NASDAQ:DENN) EVP Purchases 9,815 Shares of Stock

Denny’s Co. (NASDAQ:DENN) EVP Stephen C. Dunn acquired 9,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of $5.08 per share, for a total transaction of $49,860.20. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 113,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $577,423.28. This trade represents a 9.45 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Denny’s Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of DENN traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $5.05. 751,966 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,289,944. The company has a market cap of $259.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.32 and a beta of 2.02. Denny’s Co. has a 12-month low of $4.82 and a 12-month high of $9.52. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.22.

Denny’s (NASDAQ:DENN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. Research analysts expect that Denny’s Co. will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Denny’s

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Denny’s by 2,820.6% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,665,893 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,081,000 after acquiring an additional 1,608,854 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Denny’s by 73.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 1,381,120 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $8,908,000 after buying an additional 583,660 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in Denny’s by 99.7% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,138,473 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,888,000 after buying an additional 568,266 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Denny’s by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 1,665,680 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,077,000 after acquiring an additional 274,459 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Denny’s by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,559,063 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $9,432,000 after acquiring an additional 267,694 shares during the last quarter. 85.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DENN shares. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Denny’s from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report 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. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Denny’s from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wedbush decreased 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. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Denny’s from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.75.

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.