819,483 Shares in The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Purchased by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 819,483 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $13,358,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.40% of Wendy's as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WEN. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Wendy's by 1.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,094,694 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $69,446,000 after acquiring an additional 70,514 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of Wendy's by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 46,945 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $796,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in shares of Wendy's by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 106,230 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,802,000 after purchasing an additional 3,218 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its position in shares of Wendy's by 16.2% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 14,860 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 2,071 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in Wendy's during the second quarter worth $1,060,000. Institutional investors own 85.96% of the company's stock.

Wendy's Stock Down 1.7 %

WEN traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $14.60. 4,062,669 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,087,200. The Wendy's Company has a 1 year low of $14.57 and a 1 year high of $20.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of 15.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $16.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.43.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.25. Wendy's had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 70.02%. The business had revenue of $566.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $560.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Wendy's Company will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Wendy's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.85%. Wendy's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 105.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Wendy's from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Wendy's from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wedbush reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of Wendy's in a research note on Friday, November 1st. 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. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Wendy's from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $19.99.

Wendy's Company 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.