Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 70,053 Shares of The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Victory Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 824,371 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 70,053 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.41% of Wendy's worth $14,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wendy's by 76.8% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,813,786 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $115,562,000 after acquiring an additional 2,960,526 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Wendy's during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,085,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wendy's by 113.6% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 3,491,376 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $59,214,000 after buying an additional 1,856,970 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Wendy's by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,097,095 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $397,469,000 after buying an additional 1,273,140 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Wendy's in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $17,094,000. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on WEN. TD Cowen raised 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. Citigroup lifted their target price on Wendy's from $18.00 to $18.75 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wolfe Research upgraded Wendy's to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Tigress Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Wendy's in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Wendy's from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $20.36.

Wendy's Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Wendy's stock traded down $0.10 on Wednesday, hitting $17.92. The stock had a trading volume of 3,330,567 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,527,298. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $18.56 and a 200 day moving average of $17.64. 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 capitalization of $3.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.86, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.10.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25. Wendy's had a return on equity of 70.02% and a net margin of 8.76%. The company had revenue of $566.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $560.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. Wendy's's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that The Wendy's Company will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.58%. Wendy's's payout ratio is 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.