Intech Investment Management LLC Purchases New Position in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 14,820 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $251,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in Wendy’s by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 48,893 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $829,000 after purchasing an additional 711 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 15,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 801 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 40,985 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $772,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 46,945 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $796,000 after acquiring an additional 953 shares during the period. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 378.0% during the 1st quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 1,568 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

WEN stock opened at $17.79 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.65 billion, a PE ratio of 17.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.80. The Wendy’s Company has a 12-month low of $15.61 and a 12-month high of $20.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.01. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.66.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $570.73 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.15 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 67.74%. Wendy’s’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.62%. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is 101.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Wolfe Research upgraded Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Wendy’s from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.24.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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.