Legal & General Group Plc Takes $3.44 Million Position in The Wendy's Company $WEN

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 414,356 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $3,435,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.22% of Wendy's at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Trian Fund Management L.P. bought a new stake in Wendy's during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $252,583,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in Wendy's during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,062,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Wendy's by 2,612.4% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,340,282 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $16,265,000 after purchasing an additional 2,254,000 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Wendy's by 5.6% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,493,752 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $31,232,000 after purchasing an additional 236,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in Wendy's by 21.1% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 26,314,724 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $218,149,000 after acquiring an additional 4,576,075 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.96% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WEN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $5.50 target price on shares of Wendy's in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen raised Wendy's from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Citigroup increased their target price on Wendy's from $8.00 to $8.25 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $6.00 price objective (down from $7.00) on shares of Wendy's in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Wendy's in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $7.78.

Wendy's Trading Up 1.9%

NASDAQ WEN opened at $8.03 on Friday. The Wendy's Company has a one year low of $6.07 and a one year high of $10.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.95, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a PE ratio of 12.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.48.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $570.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $557.13 million. Wendy's had a net margin of 5.72% and a return on equity of 115.31%. The company's revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.29 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Wendy's Company will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Wendy's Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Wendy's's payout ratio is 42.42%.

Wendy's Profile

The Wendy's Company NASDAQ: WEN operates as a global quick-service restaurant chain, best known for its square-shaped beef patties, fresh ingredient sourcing and signature Frosty dessert. The company's menu features a variety of hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, salads, breakfast sandwiches, sides and beverages, designed to appeal to a broad customer base seeking both classic and contemporary fast-food options. Wendy's has placed particular emphasis on product innovation, introducing limited-time offerings and revamped core menu items to maintain customer interest and respond to evolving dining trends.

Founded in 1969 by entrepreneur Dave Thomas in Columbus, Ohio, Wendy's expanded rapidly through both company-owned and franchised outlets.

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