Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Has $491,000 Stake in The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board decreased its stake in The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) by 50.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,100 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 30,600 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board's holdings in Wendy's were worth $491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WEN. Farringdon Capital Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Wendy's in the 4th quarter worth about $304,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Wendy's by 5,096.1% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 13,354 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 13,097 shares during the last quarter. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. acquired a new stake in shares of Wendy's during the fourth quarter worth approximately $212,000. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Wendy's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wendy's by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 195,372 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,185,000 after acquiring an additional 11,812 shares in the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WEN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $17.00 price objective (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Wendy's in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Wendy's in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective 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. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Wendy's from $15.50 to $16.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Wedbush reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Wendy's in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $17.58.

Wendy's Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ WEN traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $12.50. 4,815,684 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,256,800. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.83. The Wendy's Company has a 12 month low of $12.05 and a 12 month high of $20.65. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.99. The company has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.61.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $574.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $564.17 million. Wendy's had a return on equity of 75.56% and a net margin of 8.65%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Wendy's Company will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Wendy's Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.00%. Wendy's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 105.26%.

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.