Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) Updates FY24 Earnings Guidance

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) updated its FY24 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $0.98-1.02 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $1.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on WEN. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Wendy’s from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Wendy’s from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $21.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Wendy’s from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $22.60.

Wendy’s Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ WEN traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $19.94. 3,617,900 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,569,258. Wendy’s has a 12-month low of $17.64 and a 12-month high of $23.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.21, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $18.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.05. The firm has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.78.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $534.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $540.84 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 9.44% and a return on equity of 62.68%. The business’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.21 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Wendy’s will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.02%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 3rd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kenneth W. Gilbert sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.07, for a total transaction of $81,315.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 31,304 shares in the company, valued at $565,663.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

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.