Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Makes New $161,000 Investment in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new position in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 9,515 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $161,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Wendy’s by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,220 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wendy’s during the fourth quarter valued at about $279,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 50,403 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $982,000 after buying an additional 3,290 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Wendy’s by 1.6% during the fourth 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. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Wendy’s by 145.8% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,116 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255 shares during the period. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

Wendy’s stock opened at $17.63 on Thursday. The Wendy’s Company has a 12-month low of $15.61 and a 12-month high of $20.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.80. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.70.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $570.73 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.15 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.67%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WEN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $19.50 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Monday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.24.

Insider Transactions at Wendy’s

In related news, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 14,943,466 shares in the company, valued at $256,728,745.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 17.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.