Verition Fund Management LLC Sells 138,723 Shares of The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Verition Fund Management LLC cut its stake in The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) by 72.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,614 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 138,723 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC's holdings in Wendy's were worth $922,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WEN. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Wendy's by 98.2% in the 2nd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 176,144 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,987,000 after acquiring an additional 87,254 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Wendy's in the second quarter valued at approximately $17,094,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of Wendy's during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,659,000. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Wendy's by 254.6% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 175,287 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,071,000 after purchasing an additional 125,851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wendy's by 72.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 66,843 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,171,000 after buying an additional 27,989 shares during the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on WEN. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Wendy's in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Wendy's from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Tigress Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Wendy's in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Wendy's from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Wendy's from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $20.36.

Wendy's Price Performance

WEN stock traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $17.57. The stock had a trading volume of 3,859,296 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,518,228. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.59. The Wendy's Company has a 52 week low of $15.61 and a 52 week high of $20.65.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $560.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Wendy's Company will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Wendy's Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.69%. Wendy's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 105.26%.

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.