Oak Thistle LLC Purchases New Position in The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 31,674 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $516,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Wendy's by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 92,132 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,614,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Wendy's by 6.5% in the third quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. now owns 11,689 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Wendy's by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 51,523 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $874,000 after purchasing an additional 810 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wendy's by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,432 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 949 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in 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 worth $796,000 after buying an additional 953 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.96% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Wendy's from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Wendy's in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup lifted their price objective 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. Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Wendy's in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Wendy's from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wendy's presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $19.99.

Wendy's Trading Down 1.7 %

NASDAQ:WEN traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $14.60. 4,062,669 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,402,188. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.78. The firm's fifty day moving average is $17.09 and its 200-day moving average is $17.44. The Wendy's Company has a 12-month low of $14.57 and a 12-month high of $20.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.25. Wendy's had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 70.02%. The business had revenue of $566.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $560.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Wendy's Company will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Wendy's Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.85%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Wendy's's dividend payout ratio is currently 105.26%.

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.