Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Acquires 1,928 Shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 5.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,883 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,928 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC now owns 218,037 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,698,000 after buying an additional 18,056 shares during the last quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Wendy’s by 6.7% in the second quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 107,217 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,818,000 after acquiring an additional 6,733 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Wendy’s by 3.9% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,745,202 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $46,559,000 after purchasing an additional 102,512 shares in the last quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Wendy’s during the second quarter worth about $296,000. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Wendy’s during the second quarter worth about $702,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stephens decreased their price objective on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 3rd. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $19.50 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.13.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WEN opened at $16.74 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.01. The Wendy’s Company has a twelve month low of $15.61 and a twelve month high of $20.84. The stock has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.76.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.01). Wendy’s had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 67.74%. The company had revenue of $570.73 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.15 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.28 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.98 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.97%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.01%.

Insider Activity

In other Wendy’s news, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.18, for a total value of $17,180,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,943,466 shares in the company, valued at $256,728,745.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 17.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wendy’s Company Profile

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.