LPL Financial LLC Purchases 33,622 Shares of The Wendy's Company $WEN

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in The Wendy's Company by 28.9%, owning approximately 149,925 shares valued at $2.19 million after acquiring an additional 33,622 shares.
• Several analysts lowered their price targets for Wendy's stock, with Barclays setting a new target of $13.00 and Bank of America reducing it to $11.00, indicating a consensus rating of "Hold" with a target price of $13.76.
• Wendy's reported Q2 earnings of $0.29 per share, surpassing expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.14, yielding 5.3%, with a payout ratio of 58.33%.

LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) by 28.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 149,925 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 33,622 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.08% of Wendy's worth $2,193,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wendy's by 3,249.7% in the fourth quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 1,568,348 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $25,564,000 after acquiring an additional 1,521,527 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in Wendy's by 84,261.8% in 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. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Wendy's by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,575,420 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $25,679,000 after purchasing an additional 308,142 shares during the last quarter. Man Group plc bought a new position in Wendy's in the 4th quarter valued at $4,644,000. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Wendy's by 282.6% during the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 347,408 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $5,663,000 after purchasing an additional 256,604 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.96% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WEN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Wendy's from $15.00 to $13.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 11th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $11.00 price objective (down previously from $14.00) on shares of Wendy's in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. BTIG Research reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Wendy's in a research note on Friday, August 8th. TD Securities decreased their price target on shares of Wendy's from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Wendy's from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $13.76.

Wendy's Stock Performance

Shares of WEN stock traded up $0.29 during trading on Friday, reaching $10.64. 4,600,232 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,106,512. The firm's 50-day moving average is $10.86 and its 200 day moving average is $12.52. The company has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.08, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.31. The Wendy's Company has a 1 year low of $9.74 and a 1 year high of $20.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 28.74.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $560.93 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $558.95 million. Wendy's had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 103.07%. Wendy's's revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.27 EPS. Wendy's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.820-0.89 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Wendy's Company will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Wendy's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.3%. Wendy's's dividend payout ratio is 58.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Lindsay J. Radkoski bought 5,050 shares of Wendy's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price 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 $338,206.08. This represents a 21.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 17.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.