Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Given New $22.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) had its target price boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $20.00 to $22.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target points to a potential upside of 24.86% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Wendy’s from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Monday, September 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Thursday, June 13th. They set a “sell” rating and a $16.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wendy’s has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.24.

Wendy’s Price Performance

Shares of Wendy’s stock traded up $0.05 during trading on Monday, reaching $17.62. 952,461 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,461,188. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.01, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.17. The company has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.80, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.80. Wendy’s has a 1-year low of $15.61 and a 1-year high of $20.84. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $16.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.70.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.01). Wendy’s had a return on equity of 67.74% and a net margin of 9.18%. The company had revenue of $570.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $577.15 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. Wendy’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Wendy’s will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Wendy’s news, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.18, for a total transaction of $17,180,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,943,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,728,745.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Wendy’s by 76.8% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,813,786 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $115,562,000 after purchasing an additional 2,960,526 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Wendy’s during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,085,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 113.6% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 3,491,376 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $59,214,000 after purchasing an additional 1,856,970 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Wendy’s in the fourth quarter worth $27,627,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Wendy’s by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,097,095 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $397,469,000 after buying an additional 1,273,140 shares during the period. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Wendy’s

The Wendy's Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a quick-service restaurant company in the United States and internationally. It operates through Wendy's U.S., Wendy's International, and Global Real Estate & Development segments. The company is involved in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants specializing in hamburger sandwiches.