Capital Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Position in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Capital Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 5.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 11,467 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 691 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Wendy’s by 76.8% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,813,786 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $115,562,000 after purchasing an additional 2,960,526 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Wendy’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,085,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 113.6% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 3,491,376 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $59,214,000 after acquiring an additional 1,856,970 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 6.4% during the 1st 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 period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Wendy’s during the 2nd quarter valued at about $17,094,000. 85.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wendy’s Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of WEN stock opened at $18.98 on Wednesday. The Wendy’s Company has a fifty-two week low of $15.61 and a fifty-two week high of $20.65. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $17.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.01, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.17.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last posted 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). Wendy’s had a return on equity of 67.74% and a net margin of 9.18%. The business had revenue of $570.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $577.15 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.27%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WEN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $18.00 to $18.75 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wendy’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wendy’s

In other news, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.18, for a total transaction of $17,180,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,943,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,728,745.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 17.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.