Janus Henderson Group PLC Grows Stock Position in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,133,832 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 90,380 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned about 1.54% of Wendy’s worth $51,081,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 282.6% in the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 347,408 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,663,000 after purchasing an additional 256,604 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 60.2% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 58,818 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $966,000 after purchasing an additional 22,092 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 39,072 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $637,000 after purchasing an additional 3,522 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Co SC purchased a new position in shares of Wendy’s in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 3,249.7% in the 4th quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 1,568,348 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,521,527 shares during the period. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Wendy’s

In other news, insider Abigail E. Pringle sold 136,819 shares of Wendy’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.81, for a total value of $1,752,651.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 203,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,600,494.05. This trade represents a 40.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 17.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on WEN. Barclays cut their price objective on Wendy’s from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. TD Securities dropped their target price on Wendy’s from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup raised their target price on Wendy’s from $15.50 to $16.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Wendy’s from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $17.00 to $15.00 in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Wendy’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.34.

Wendy’s Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WEN opened at $11.93 on Wednesday. The Wendy’s Company has a fifty-two week low of $11.70 and a fifty-two week high of $20.60. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $13.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48. The firm has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a PE ratio of 12.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.40.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20. The firm had revenue of $523.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $530.11 million. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 75.56% and a net margin of 8.65%. Wendy’s’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.69%. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is 59.57%.

Wendy’s Profile

The Wendy’s Co engages in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants. It operates through the following segments: Wendy’s U.S., Wendy’s International, and Global Real Estate and Development. The Wendy’s U.S. segment includes the operation and franchising of Wendy’s restaurants in the U.S.