Denny’s Co. (NASDAQ:DENN) Shares Sold by Gamco Investors INC. ET AL

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL cut its stake in shares of Denny’s Co. (NASDAQ:DENN) by 0.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 459,317 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,900 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL owned about 0.88% of Denny’s worth $4,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in Denny’s by 15.3% during the first quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 1,103,727 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $9,889,000 after acquiring an additional 146,658 shares during the period. Fruth Investment Management raised its position in Denny’s by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Fruth Investment Management now owns 26,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Denny’s by 3.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,273,187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $27,724,000 after buying an additional 108,758 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Denny’s by 75.6% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 222,943 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,426,000 after buying an additional 96,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Denny’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $96,000. 85.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Denny’s Trading Up 1.2 %

Denny’s stock traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $7.45. 735,766 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 567,978. Denny’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $6.33 and a fifty-two week high of $11.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $387.55 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.33, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 2.01. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $7.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.42.

Denny’s (NASDAQ:DENN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.14 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $109.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $115.17 million. Denny’s had a negative return on equity of 63.27% and a net margin of 5.27%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.13 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Denny’s Co. will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Jay C. Gilmore bought 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $6.51 per share, with a total value of $78,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 121,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $789,187.77. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Denny’s news, CFO Robert P. Verostek acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $6.53 per share, with a total value of $65,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 24,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $156,720. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jay C. Gilmore acquired 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $6.51 per share, with a total value of $78,120.00. Following the purchase, the chief accounting officer now owns 121,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $789,187.77. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 4.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on DENN shares. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $8.50 target price on shares of Denny’s in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Denny’s from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Denny’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Denny’s in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Denny’s from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.70.

Denny’s Company Profile

Denny's Corporation, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates franchised full-service restaurant chains under the Denny's and Keke's Breakfast Cafe brands in the United States and internationally. The company was formerly known as Advantica Restaurant Group, Inc and changed its name to Denny's Corporation in July 2002.