Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Cuts Holdings in The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC decreased its holdings in shares of The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,929,326 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 140,138 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned about 2.40% of Wendy's worth $86,362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Claro Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wendy's during the third quarter valued at about $394,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wendy's during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $212,000. Probity Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Wendy's by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. now owns 11,689 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $205,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its position in Wendy's by 3.7% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 203,162 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,559,000 after purchasing an additional 7,180 shares during the period. Finally, Paladin Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Wendy's in the third quarter valued at approximately $144,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WEN. Loop Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of Wendy's in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Wendy's from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Wendy's from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Wendy's from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Wendy's from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.22.

Wendy's Stock Performance

Shares of WEN traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $19.26. 4,560,158 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,477,261. The Wendy's Company has a twelve month low of $15.61 and a twelve month high of $20.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.01, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 2.15. The company has a market capitalization of $3.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.80. The business's 50-day moving average price is $17.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.64.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $570.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $577.15 million. Wendy's had a return on equity of 67.74% and a net margin of 9.18%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Wendy's Company will post 0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.19%. Wendy's's dividend payout ratio is presently 101.01%.

Insider Transactions at Wendy's

In other Wendy's news, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 1,000,000 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 14,943,466 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $256,728,745.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 17.10% of the company's stock.

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.