PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Sells 1,275 Shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lessened its holdings in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 12,444 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,275 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Wendy’s in the fourth quarter worth about $99,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Dean Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Dean Capital Management now owns 88,506 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,724,000 after buying an additional 15,741 shares during the last quarter. EHP Funds Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $244,000. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 66,329 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,292,000 after buying an additional 3,923 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Juan Carlos Loredo sold 44,806 shares of Wendy’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.50, for a total transaction of $873,717.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 27,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $537,927. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 17.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WEN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.79.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WEN opened at $16.43 on Tuesday. The Wendy’s Company has a 52 week low of $16.22 and a 52 week high of $22.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.60, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.56. The company has a quick ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.21.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.02. Wendy’s had a net margin of 9.44% and a return on equity of 62.68%. The firm had revenue of $534.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $540.84 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.21 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that The Wendy’s Company will post 1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.09%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.01%.

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.