AMG National Trust Bank Invests $1.09 Million in The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

AMG National Trust Bank bought a new position in The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 62,276 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,091,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Wendy's by 6.4% in 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 in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Wendy's by 76.8% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,813,786 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $115,562,000 after purchasing an additional 2,960,526 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Wendy's by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,094,694 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $69,446,000 after purchasing an additional 70,514 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,856,970 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Wendy's by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,321,275 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $62,571,000 after purchasing an additional 68,356 shares during the period. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WEN shares. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Wendy's in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Wendy's from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Tigress Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Wendy's in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Wendy's from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Wendy's from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $20.36.

Wendy's Stock Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ WEN traded down $0.10 on Wednesday, hitting $17.92. 3,330,238 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,527,297. The company has a market cap of $3.65 billion, a PE ratio of 18.97, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64. 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 $18.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.64.

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

Wendy's Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.58%. Wendy's's dividend payout ratio is presently 105.26%.

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.