Denny's Co. (NASDAQ:DENN) Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Denny's Co. (NASDAQ:DENN - Free Report) by 10.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,229,510 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 370,376 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 6.29% of Denny's worth $19,539,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Denny's by 95.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,239 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 5,970 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Denny's by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,175,986 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $7,585,000 after buying an additional 3,142 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Denny's by 342.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 82,257 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $531,000 after buying an additional 63,668 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Denny's by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,180,879 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $7,618,000 after buying an additional 3,902 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Denny's by 244.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 75,797 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $489,000 after acquiring an additional 53,763 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.07% of the company's stock.

Denny's Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:DENN traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $3.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 29,272 shares, compared to its average volume of 885,857. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.47 million, a PE ratio of 7.74 and a beta of 1.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $4.02 and a 200 day moving average of $5.50. Denny's Co. has a twelve month low of $2.85 and a twelve month high of $8.41.

Denny's (NASDAQ:DENN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The restaurant operator reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.01). Denny's had a net margin of 4.77% and a negative return on equity of 50.01%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Denny's Co. will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kelli Valade bought 9,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $5.13 per share, for a total transaction of $49,761.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 192,806 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $989,094.78. This represents a 5.30 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen C. Dunn purchased 9,815 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $5.08 per share, for a total transaction of $49,860.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 113,666 shares of the company's stock, valued at $577,423.28. This represents a 9.45 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 20,465 shares of company stock valued at $104,457 over the last quarter. 4.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Denny's from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Denny's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Denny's from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Denny's from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Wedbush decreased their target price on Denny's from $10.00 to $8.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $7.75.

Denny's Profile

Denny's Corp. engages in the operation of restaurants and franchised, and licensed restaurants. It operates through the Denny's and Other segments. The Denny's segment includes the results of all company and franchised and licensed Denny's restaurants. The Other segment refers to the results of all company and franchise restaurants.