Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $10.60 Million Holdings in The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its holdings in The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) by 11.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 724,314 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 95,169 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.37% of Wendy's worth $10,597,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new stake in Wendy's in the fourth quarter worth about $1,733,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Wendy's in the 4th quarter worth about $4,318,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Wendy's by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 39,072 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $637,000 after purchasing an additional 3,522 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Wendy's in the 1st quarter worth about $326,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Wendy's in the 4th quarter worth about $824,000. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Abigail E. Pringle sold 136,819 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was 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 directly owns 203,005 shares in the company, valued at $2,600,494.05. The trade was a 40.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Lindsay J. Radkoski purchased 5,050 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $11.68 per share, with a total value of $58,984.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief marketing officer now owns 28,956 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $338,206.08. The trade was a 21.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 17.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Securities dropped their price target on Wendy's from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Wendy's from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Wendy's from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Wendy's from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their target price on Wendy's from $26.00 to $21.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Wendy's currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $16.34.

Wendy's Stock Performance

WEN traded down $0.25 on Friday, hitting $11.18. The company had a trading volume of 6,404,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,357,668. The company's fifty day moving average price is $12.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.36. The Wendy's Company has a 1-year low of $10.98 and a 1-year 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 stock has a market cap of $2.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 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 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 firm had revenue of $523.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $530.11 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.23 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities 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. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.01%. Wendy's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.