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

Probity Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 6.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,689 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 715 shares during the quarter. Probity Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $205,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 48,893 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $829,000 after buying an additional 711 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 15,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Wendy’s by 1.6% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 51,523 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $874,000 after acquiring an additional 810 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 2.2% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 40,985 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $772,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the period. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Wendy’s by 21.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,432 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 949 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Wendy’s

In other news, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.18, for a total value of $17,180,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,943,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,728,745.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 17.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WEN has been the topic of several research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $19.50 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given 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.com, Wendy’s currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.22.

Wendy’s Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WEN opened at $19.68 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $17.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.64. The company has a market capitalization of $4.04 billion, a PE ratio of 19.88, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.80. The Wendy’s Company has a 52 week low of $15.61 and a 52 week high of $20.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.01, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.17.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.01). Wendy’s had a return on equity of 67.74% and a net margin of 9.18%. The business had revenue of $570.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.15 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.01%.

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.