The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Holdings Raised by Squarepoint Ops LLC

Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its holdings in The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) by 113.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,491,376 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 1,856,970 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned 1.70% of Wendy's worth $59,214,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Wendy's by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 48,893 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $829,000 after buying an additional 711 shares during the last quarter. Private Wealth Strategies L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of Wendy's by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Private Wealth Strategies L.L.C. now owns 17,867 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wendy's by 5.6% in the 1st 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. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Wendy's by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 40,985 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $772,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted 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 in the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 1,000,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 14,943,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,728,745.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 17.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WEN. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Wendy's from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $19.50 target price on shares of Wendy's in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Wendy's from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Wendy's from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Loop Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of Wendy's in a report on Monday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wendy's currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.24.

Wendy's Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WEN traded down $0.24 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $17.34. The stock had a trading volume of 2,565,868 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,450,286. The Wendy's Company has a one year low of $15.61 and a one year high of $20.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.01, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.17. The stock has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a PE ratio of 17.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.80. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $17.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.67.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) 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). Wendy's had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 67.74%. The firm had revenue of $570.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.15 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. Wendy's's revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that The Wendy's Company will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.77%. Wendy's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.