Victory Capital Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 12.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 894,424 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 100,456 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.44% of Wendy’s worth $15,169,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of WEN. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Wendy’s by 6.4% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Wendy’s by 2.1% in 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 buying an additional 111,626 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Wendy’s by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,141,024 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $80,668,000 after buying an additional 63,927 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Wendy’s by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,321,275 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $62,571,000 after buying an additional 68,356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Wendy’s by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,745,202 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $46,559,000 after buying an additional 102,512 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Wendy’s Trading Up 4.0 %

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

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

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Barclays cut their price target on 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. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on Wendy’s from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. One 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 1,000,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 14,943,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,728,745.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

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.