AGF Management Ltd. Increases Stake in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

AGF Management Ltd. increased its stake in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 7.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 135,270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,790 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $2,294,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 6.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,097,095 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $397,469,000 after buying an additional 1,273,140 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Wendy’s by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,344,118 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $100,683,000 after acquiring an additional 111,626 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Wendy’s by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,141,024 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $80,668,000 after purchasing an additional 63,927 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Wendy’s by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,321,275 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $62,571,000 after purchasing an additional 68,356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 3.9% in 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.18, for a total transaction of $17,180,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,943,466 shares in the company, valued at $256,728,745.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 17.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Monday, September 9th. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Wendy’s from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.13.

Wendy’s Trading Up 4.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WEN opened at $17.57 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $16.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.71. The Wendy’s Company has a 1 year low of $15.61 and a 1 year high of $20.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.01, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 2.15.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 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 posted $0.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is 101.01%.

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.