Dean Capital Management Decreases Stock Holdings in The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Dean Capital Management cut its position in The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) by 56.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,257 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 80,604 shares during the quarter. Dean Capital Management's holdings in Wendy's were worth $998,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its stake in Wendy's by 3,249.7% during the fourth quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 1,568,348 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $25,564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,521,527 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Wendy's by 296.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,882,829 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $30,690,000 after buying an additional 1,407,503 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new position in shares of Wendy's during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,678,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Wendy's during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $13,358,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Wendy's by 93.0% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,591,281 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $25,938,000 after buying an additional 766,910 shares during the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wendy's Stock Performance

Shares of WEN traded up $0.30 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $12.30. The stock had a trading volume of 5,094,323 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,273,786. 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 $11.70 and a 12 month high of $20.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a PE ratio of 12.95, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $13.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.59.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.20. Wendy's had a return on equity of 75.56% and a net margin of 8.65%. The company had revenue of $523.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $530.11 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.23 earnings per share. Wendy's's revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that The Wendy's Company will post 0.99 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.55%. Wendy's's payout ratio is currently 59.57%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Abigail E. Pringle sold 136,819 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.81, for a total value of $1,752,651.39. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 203,005 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,600,494.05. The trade was a 40.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 17.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on WEN. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $17.00 price target on shares of Wendy's in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Wendy's from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $13.00 target price on Wendy's in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Wendy's from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Wendy's from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wendy's presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $16.34.

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.