52,750 Shares in The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Purchased by Teza Capital Management LLC

Teza Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 52,750 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $860,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEN. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in Wendy's during the 3rd quarter valued at $763,000. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Wendy's during the 4th quarter valued at $464,000. Krilogy Financial LLC bought a new position in Wendy's during the 4th quarter valued at $212,000. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Wendy's by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,107 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Wendy's by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 44,056 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115 shares in the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WEN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Wendy's from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $17.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Monday, May 5th. TD Securities reduced their price objective on Wendy's from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Wendy's from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Argus raised Wendy's to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $14.00 price objective on shares of Wendy's in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $16.34.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wendy's

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

Wendy's Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:WEN traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $11.44. 2,844,989 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,295,655. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 1.85. The Wendy's Company has a 52-week low of $11.24 and a 52-week high of $20.60. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $13.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.06. The company has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a PE ratio of 12.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.40.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.20. Wendy's had a return on equity of 75.56% and a net margin of 8.65%. The business had revenue of $523.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $530.11 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. Wendy's's quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that The Wendy's Company will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy's Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.90%. Wendy's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.