Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 47,795 Shares of The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) by 168.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 76,235 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 47,795 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Wendy's were worth $1,115,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEN. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Wendy's by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,303,279 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $102,743,000 after purchasing an additional 458,106 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Wendy's by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,033,560 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $65,747,000 after buying an additional 43,805 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Wendy's by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,133,832 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $51,081,000 after buying an additional 90,380 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Wendy's by 296.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,882,829 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $30,690,000 after buying an additional 1,407,503 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Wendy's by 93.0% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,591,281 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $25,938,000 after buying an additional 766,910 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.96% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Wendy's

In related news, CMO Lindsay J. Radkoski acquired 5,050 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $11.68 per share, for a total transaction of $58,984.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 28,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $338,206.08. This trade represents a 21.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Abigail E. Pringle sold 136,819 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.81, for a total transaction of $1,752,651.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 203,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,600,494.05. This trade represents a 40.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on WEN. Barclays dropped their price target 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. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Wendy's from $26.00 to $21.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Wendy's from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Wendy's from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Wendy's from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $16.34.

Wendy's Stock Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:WEN opened at $11.69 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.34. The Wendy's Company has a twelve month low of $10.98 and a twelve month high of $20.60. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $12.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. The business had revenue of $523.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $530.11 million. Wendy's had a net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 75.56%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.79%. Wendy's's dividend payout ratio is presently 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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