Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Buys 128,579 Shares of The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) by 85.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 279,041 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 128,579 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned 0.14% of Wendy's worth $4,548,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Wendy's by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,303,279 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $102,743,000 after buying an additional 458,106 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted 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 acquiring an additional 43,805 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Wendy's by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,133,832 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $51,081,000 after acquiring an additional 90,380 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Wendy's by 296.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,882,829 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $30,690,000 after acquiring an additional 1,407,503 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Wendy's by 93.0% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,591,281 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $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.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wendy's

In other news, CMO Lindsay J. Radkoski purchased 5,050 shares of Wendy'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 directly owns 28,956 shares in the company, valued at $338,206.08. The trade was a 21.12% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Abigail E. Pringle sold 136,819 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 203,005 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,600,494.05. This represents a 40.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 17.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WEN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays decreased their target price on Wendy's from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Wendy's from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. TD Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Wendy's from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Argus upgraded shares of Wendy's to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Wendy's from $26.00 to $21.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $16.34.

Wendy's Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of Wendy's stock traded down $0.24 during trading on Thursday, hitting $11.68. 5,166,678 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,327,293. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.40. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $12.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.68. The Wendy's Company has a 1-year low of $10.98 and a 1-year high of $20.60.

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

Wendy's Cuts Dividend

The firm 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 of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.79%. Wendy's's dividend payout ratio is presently 59.57%.

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.