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

Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 29.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 271,398 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 62,518 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Wendy’s worth $4,424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WEN. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $1,614,000 after buying an additional 590 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Wendy’s by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 25,529 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $416,000 after buying an additional 717 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Wendy’s by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 57,400 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $979,000 after buying an additional 797 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Wendy’s by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 15,634 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the period. Finally, Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Wendy’s by 46.4% in the 4th quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,107 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 985 shares during the period. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on WEN shares. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $14.00 price target (down from $22.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $17.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $15.50 to $16.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned 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 Price Performance

NASDAQ:WEN opened at $15.43 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48. The company’s 50-day moving average is $14.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.84. The Wendy’s Company has a 12-month low of $13.72 and a 12-month high of $20.65.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $574.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $564.17 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 75.56%. Research analysts expect that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.48%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.26%.

About Wendy’s

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.