Alps Advisors Inc. Acquires 26,761 Shares of The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Alps Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) by 7.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 372,027 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 26,761 shares during the quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. owned 0.19% of Wendy's worth $5,443,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Wendy's by 84,261.8% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 596,438 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $8,726,000 after purchasing an additional 595,731 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wendy's during the first quarter worth $326,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Wendy's during the fourth quarter worth $4,318,000. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of Wendy's by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 39,072 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $637,000 after purchasing an additional 3,522 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Wendy's by 168.1% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 76,235 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,115,000 after purchasing an additional 47,795 shares during the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Wendy's

In related news, insider Abigail E. Pringle sold 136,819 shares of Wendy's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was 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 owned 203,005 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,600,494.05. The trade was a 40.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Lindsay J. Radkoski bought 5,050 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $11.68 per share, with a total value of $58,984.00. Following the acquisition, the chief marketing officer directly owned 28,956 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $338,206.08. This trade represents a 21.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 17.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $13.00 target price on Wendy's in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $14.00 price target on shares of Wendy's in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Wendy's from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and cut their price target for the company from $17.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Wendy's from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Wendy's from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $16.24.

Wendy's Price Performance

Shares of WEN stock opened at $11.02 on Friday. The Wendy's Company has a fifty-two week low of $10.91 and a fifty-two week high of $20.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.72, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 24.88, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 1.49. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $11.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.55.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20. Wendy's had a return on equity of 85.36% and a net margin of 8.57%. The business had revenue of $523.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $530.11 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.23 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Wendy's Company will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy's Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.08%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. Wendy's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.57%.

Wendy's Profile

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.

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