BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. Takes Position in The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. bought a new position in shares of The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 69,000 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,125,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Wendy's by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 217,638 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,548,000 after acquiring an additional 6,065 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in Wendy's by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 52,429 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $855,000 after purchasing an additional 2,339 shares in the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in Wendy's during the fourth quarter worth $622,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wendy's by 127.7% in the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 94,322 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,537,000 after buying an additional 52,898 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lido Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wendy's during the fourth quarter valued at about $279,000. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WEN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Wendy's from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays dropped their target price on Wendy's from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Citigroup upped their price target on Wendy's from $15.50 to $16.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $13.00 price objective on Wendy's in a research note on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Wendy's from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $16.34.

Wendy's Price Performance

Shares of WEN traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $11.77. 5,444,306 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,288,015. The Wendy's Company has a 1 year low of $11.71 and a 1 year high of $20.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $13.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.74. 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 has a market cap of $2.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.40.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20. The firm had revenue of $523.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $530.11 million. Wendy's had a return on equity of 75.56% and a net margin of 8.65%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.23 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Wendy's Company will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Wendy's Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.76%. Wendy's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.57%.

Insider Transactions at Wendy's

In related news, insider Abigail E. Pringle sold 136,819 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.81, for a total transaction of $1,752,651.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 203,005 shares in the company, valued at $2,600,494.05. This represents a 40.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 17.00% of the company's stock.

About Wendy's

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.