The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Shares Purchased by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in shares of The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) by 295.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,844 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 29,768 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Wendy's were worth $583,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEN. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of Wendy's by 54.9% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 6,597 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 2,338 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wendy's in the 4th quarter valued at about $213,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Wendy's by 862.2% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 12,143 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $198,000 after buying an additional 10,881 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Wendy's by 424.5% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,488 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 5,251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Wendy's during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 85.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WEN shares. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $14.00 price target on shares of Wendy's in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Wendy's from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Wendy's in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Guggenheim cut Wendy's from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Wendy's from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $16.34.

Wendy's Trading Up 0.1%

WEN stock traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $11.68. The stock had a trading volume of 3,704,336 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,589,922. The company's 50-day moving average price is $11.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 24.88, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The firm has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a PE ratio of 12.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.34. The Wendy's Company has a 12-month low of $10.91 and a 12-month high of $20.60.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20. The business had revenue of $523.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $530.11 million. Wendy's had a return on equity of 85.36% and a net margin of 8.57%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.23 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Wendy's Company will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy's Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. Wendy's's dividend payout ratio is currently 59.57%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Lindsay J. Radkoski acquired 5,050 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $11.68 per share, for a total transaction of $58,984.00. Following the acquisition, the chief marketing officer directly owned 28,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $338,206.08. This represents a 21.12% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Abigail E. Pringle sold 136,819 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 203,005 shares in the company, valued at $2,600,494.05. This trade represents a 40.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.