AQR Capital Management LLC Has $115.56 Million Stake in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 76.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,813,786 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 2,960,526 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 3.32% of Wendy’s worth $115,562,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WEN. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its position 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 buying an additional 1,240 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Wendy’s in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Wendy’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 483.2% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 transaction of $17,180,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now 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. Company insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Monday, September 9th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Wendy’s from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Wendy’s in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $16.00 target price for the company. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wendy’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.24.

Wendy’s Trading Up 2.0 %

WEN opened at $17.69 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 17.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 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 Wendy’s Company has a twelve month low of $15.61 and a twelve month high of $20.65. The company has a fifty day moving average of $17.07 and a 200-day moving average of $17.67.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $570.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $577.15 million. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 67.74% and a net margin of 9.18%. The business’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.28 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.98 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.65%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is 101.01%.

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.