The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Shares Bought by Advisors Asset Management Inc.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) by 29.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 271,398 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 62,518 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. owned 0.13% of Wendy's worth $4,424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Wendy's by 159.6% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,440,880 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $112,844,000 after acquiring an additional 3,959,480 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Wendy's by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,303,279 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $102,743,000 after buying an additional 458,106 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Wendy's by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,187,593 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $90,887,000 after buying an additional 37,801 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Wendy's by 3.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,097,836 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $54,287,000 after acquiring an additional 115,875 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Wendy's by 93.0% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,591,281 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $25,938,000 after acquiring an additional 766,910 shares during the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wendy's Stock Performance

Shares of WEN traded down $0.52 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $14.55. 4,775,092 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,987,643. The Wendy's Company has a 12 month low of $13.72 and a 12 month high of $20.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.73. The business's 50-day moving average price is $14.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 1.85.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. Wendy's had a return on equity of 75.56% and a net margin of 8.65%. The firm had revenue of $574.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $564.17 million. Equities analysts predict that The Wendy's Company will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Wendy's Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.87%. Wendy's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WEN. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Wendy's from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup increased their target price on Wendy's from $15.50 to $16.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of Wendy's in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $14.00 price objective (down from $22.00) on shares of Wendy's in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $17.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Wendy's in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $18.08.

Wendy's Profile

The Wendy's Co engages in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants. It offers hamburgers and related products, such as chicken breast sandwiches, nuggets, chili, and baked potatoes, French fries, freshly prepared salads, soft drinks, milk, coffee, frosty deserts, and kid's meals.