UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) by 13.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 628,013 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 72,033 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned 0.31% of Wendy's worth $10,237,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Wendy's by 670.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,402 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,220 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Wendy's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Colonial Trust Co SC bought a new position in shares of Wendy's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Wendy's during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Wendy's during the 4th quarter worth approximately $67,000. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Insider Activity at Wendy's
In other Wendy's news, insider Abigail E. Pringle sold 136,819 shares of the firm'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 directly owns 203,005 shares in the company, valued at $2,600,494.05. This trade represents a 40.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 17.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Analyst Ratings Changes
WEN has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Wendy's from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $13.00 price objective on Wendy's in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Wedbush reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Wendy's in a research note on Friday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Wendy's from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Guggenheim cut Wendy's from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $16.34.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Wendy's
Wendy's Trading Up 0.9%
Wendy's stock traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $11.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,337,788 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,296,599. The Wendy's Company has a 12 month low of $10.98 and a 12 month high of $20.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.83. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $12.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.72. The stock has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.40.
Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20. The company had revenue of $523.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.23 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that The Wendy's Company will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.
Wendy's Cuts Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.79%. Wendy's's dividend payout ratio is presently 59.57%.
About Wendy's
(
Free Report)
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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