Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC Acquires 27,558 Shares of The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) by 12.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 245,595 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 27,558 shares during the quarter. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC owned about 0.12% of Wendy's worth $4,303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Wendy's by 2.2% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 40,985 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $772,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Wendy's by 159.2% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 59,356 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,118,000 after buying an additional 36,456 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in Wendy's by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 15,170 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 801 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its holdings in shares of Wendy's by 378.0% in the 1st quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 1,568 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240 shares during the period. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its stake in Wendy's by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 144,353 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,720,000 after acquiring an additional 1,692 shares during the period. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wendy's Stock Up 2.9 %

NASDAQ:WEN traded up $0.55 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $19.66. The company had a trading volume of 4,384,974 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,471,867. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $18.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.71. The Wendy's Company has a twelve month low of $15.61 and a twelve month high of $20.65. The firm has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25. The business had revenue of $566.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $560.50 million. Wendy's had a return on equity of 70.02% and a net margin of 8.76%. The firm's revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.27 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that The Wendy's Company will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Wendy's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.09%. Wendy's's payout ratio is 105.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WEN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Wendy's from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Wendy's from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Wendy's from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday. Wolfe Research upgraded Wendy's to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Wendy's from $18.00 to $18.75 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $20.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the director now owns 14,943,466 shares in the company, valued at $256,728,745.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 17.10% of the company's stock.

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.