SG Americas Securities LLC Increases Stock Holdings in The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) by 263.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,685 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 43,284 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Wendy's were worth $873,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of WEN. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Wendy's by 91.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,266 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wendy's by 36.9% in the first quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 73,261 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,072,000 after buying an additional 19,749 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wendy's by 1,111.9% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,133 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,957 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Wendy's by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 21,576 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $316,000 after acquiring an additional 1,328 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Wendy's by 33.9% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 8,475 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $124,000 after acquiring an additional 2,146 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Wendy's from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Wendy's in a research note on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group cut their target price on Wendy's from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Wendy's from $26.00 to $21.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, TD Securities dropped their price objective on Wendy's from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given 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, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $16.34.

Wendy's Stock Performance

NASDAQ WEN traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $11.33. The stock had a trading volume of 5,944,162 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,416,262. The Wendy's Company has a 52-week low of $10.91 and a 52-week high of $20.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $12.03 and a 200 day moving average of $14.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 24.88, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 1.49. The stock has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.34.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates 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 8.57% and a return on equity of 85.36%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.23 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that The Wendy's Company will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Wendy's Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.94%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. Wendy's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.57%.

Insider Activity at Wendy's

In related news, insider Abigail E. Pringle sold 136,819 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Lindsay J. Radkoski acquired 5,050 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $11.68 per share, with a total value of $58,984.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 28,956 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $338,206.08. This trade represents a 21.12% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 17.00% of the stock is owned by company 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.