Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Purchases 117,990 Shares of The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its stake in The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) by 201.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 176,500 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 117,990 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC owned 0.09% of Wendy's worth $2,993,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its stake in Wendy's by 378.0% during the first quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 1,568 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Wendy's in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Wendy's in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Wendy's by 483.2% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,872 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,551 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wendy's during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WEN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Wendy's from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Wendy's from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wolfe Research raised shares of Wendy's to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. 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, Piper Sandler cut their price target on Wendy's from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $20.12.

Wendy's Stock Up 3.3 %

NASDAQ WEN traded up $0.59 during trading on Friday, reaching $18.62. 4,862,804 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,420,210. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.01. The Wendy's Company has a fifty-two week low of $15.61 and a fifty-two week high of $20.65. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $17.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a PE ratio of 18.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.80.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $570.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $577.15 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.28 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that The Wendy's Company will post 0.98 EPS for the current year.

Wendy's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.37%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Wendy's's payout ratio is presently 101.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 value of $17,180,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,943,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,728,745.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 17.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.