The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Stock Position Increased by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its position in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 117,025 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,558 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned approximately 0.06% of Wendy’s worth $2,050,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WEN. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 5.6% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 15,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the 1st quarter worth about $67,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 buying an additional 1,273,140 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 23.9% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 6,575 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $124,000 after acquiring an additional 1,269 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 483.2% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Wendy’s Trading Down 1.9 %

NASDAQ:WEN opened at $18.12 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a PE ratio of 19.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.79. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $18.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.69.

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

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.52%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. 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. Wolfe Research raised Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $18.00 to $18.75 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.36.

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.