Xponance Inc. Trims Position in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Xponance Inc. decreased its position in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 27.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,467 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 9,843 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $432,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,533,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,273,140 shares during the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new stake in Wendy’s in the fourth quarter valued at $1,027,000. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new position in shares of Wendy’s in the 4th quarter valued at $20,574,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 175.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 11,235 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 7,161 shares during the period. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wendy’s Trading Down 1.5 %

WEN opened at $17.52 on Tuesday. 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 52 week low of $15.61 and a 52 week high of $20.65. The business’s 50 day moving average is $17.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.65. The firm has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is currently 101.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WEN. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $19.50 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wendy’s presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.24.

Insider Transactions at Wendy’s

In other Wendy’s news, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.18, for a total value of $17,180,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,943,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,728,745.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

Wendy’s 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.