13,465 Shares in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Purchased by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 13,465 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Wendy’s in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Wendy’s in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 483.2% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,551 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wendy’s in the 1st quarter worth $44,000. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen upped their target price on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wendy’s currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.36.

Wendy’s Stock Down 0.7 %

WEN opened at $17.98 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a PE ratio of 18.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The Wendy’s Company has a fifty-two week low of $15.61 and a fifty-two week high of $20.65. The business has a 50-day moving average of $18.59 and a 200-day moving average of $17.63.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.25. The firm had revenue of $566.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $560.50 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 70.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.56%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is presently 105.26%.

About Wendy’s

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.