Nuveen Asset Management LLC Has $13.07 Million Stake in The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) by 46.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 801,536 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 254,443 shares during the quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned about 0.39% of Wendy's worth $13,065,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Wendy's by 7.8% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Wendy's by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,033,560 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $65,747,000 after purchasing an additional 43,805 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Wendy's by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,133,832 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $51,081,000 after purchasing an additional 90,380 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Wendy's by 296.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,882,829 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $30,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Wendy's by 93.0% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,591,281 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $25,938,000 after purchasing an additional 766,910 shares in the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WEN has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Wendy's from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Wendy's from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. 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 research report on Monday, May 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of Wendy's in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, TD Securities dropped their target price on shares of Wendy's from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $16.34.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Abigail E. Pringle sold 136,819 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.81, for a total value of $1,752,651.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 203,005 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,600,494.05. The trade was a 40.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 17.00% of the company's stock.

Wendy's Stock Down 0.6%

WEN stock traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $11.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,727,678 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,306,055. The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48. The company has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a PE ratio of 11.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.40. The Wendy's Company has a 12 month low of $11.02 and a 12 month high of $20.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $12.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.92.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.20. The company had revenue of $523.47 million during 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 company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.23 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Wendy's Company will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Wendy's Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.04%. Wendy's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.57%.

Wendy's Company 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.