Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Acquires 152,638 Shares of The Wendy’s Company $WEN

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 152,638 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $974,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the second quarter worth $27,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Wendy’s in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Nykredit A S acquired a new position in shares of Wendy’s in the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 630.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 5,245 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 4,527 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 21.7% in the 2nd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 9,643 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 1,720 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

More Wendy’s News

Here are the key news stories impacting Wendy’s this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wendy’s reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.13 per share, above analysts’ estimates, and launched its multi-year “Dave’s Way” plan to improve traffic, market share and restaurant profitability. Quarterly results and strategy
• Positive Sentiment: The company is refreshing its menu for 2027 and tailoring breakfast offerings by location after tests found that scaling back breakfast in some locations improved profitability. These moves could help the turnaround if they attract customers and lift margins. Menu refresh
• Positive Sentiment: Wendy’s is considering acquiring as many as 163 Meritage Hospitality Group restaurants, which could give it more control over locations and support its franchise portfolio strategy, though the deal is not final. Potential restaurant acquisition
• Neutral Sentiment: Citigroup and Stephens raised their price targets to $8, while keeping neutral and equal-weight ratings, respectively. Both targets are slightly below the cited share price, suggesting limited near-term upside in their views.
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the earnings beat, quarterly earnings were below the year-ago level and revenue declined year over year, underscoring the traffic and sales challenges the turnaround must address.
• Negative Sentiment: The board rejected Trian’s $7.35-per-share buyout proposal as undervaluing Wendy’s and adopted a limited-duration “poison pill.” The offer was below the cited recent share price, but blocking it leaves investors reliant on management’s turnaround and may prolong activist-related uncertainty. Buyout proposal rejection

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WEN shares. Seaport Research Partners started coverage on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $6.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Stephens lifted their target price on Wendy’s from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. Finally, Argus cut Wendy’s from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $7.56.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

WEN stock opened at $8.15 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.00, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 1.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.98, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.37. The Wendy’s Company has a 1 year low of $5.94 and a 1 year high of $10.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $6.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.36.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $435.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $531.28 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 4.40% and a return on equity of 93.77%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.24 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.50 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be given a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 1st. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.90%.

About Wendy’s

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ: WEN) operates and franchises quick-service restaurants under the Wendy’s brand. Its restaurants are known for hamburgers made with fresh, never-frozen beef, along with chicken sandwiches, salads, fries, breakfast items, desserts, and beverages.

Founded by Dave Thomas in 1969, Wendy’s has grown into an international restaurant chain with locations primarily in the United States and Canada, as well as select markets in other countries. The company’s restaurant system includes both company-operated and franchised locations.

In addition to its restaurant operations, Wendy’s supports customers through digital ordering, delivery, loyalty programs, and mobile applications.