Gotham Asset Management LLC Purchases 256,604 Shares of The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) by 282.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 347,408 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 256,604 shares during the quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC owned 0.17% of Wendy's worth $5,663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Wendy's by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 25,529 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $416,000 after buying an additional 717 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Wendy's by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 57,400 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $979,000 after acquiring an additional 797 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Wendy's by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 15,634 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Wendy's by 46.4% in the fourth quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,107 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. increased its stake in Wendy's by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 11,232 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $183,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares during the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Abigail E. Pringle sold 136,819 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 203,005 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,600,494.05. The trade was a 40.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 17.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wendy's Trading Up 2.5%

WEN traded up $0.30 during trading on Friday, reaching $12.26. 4,243,866 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,278,321. The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a PE ratio of 12.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.40. The stock's 50-day moving average is $13.39 and its 200 day moving average is $15.37. The Wendy's Company has a 12 month low of $11.70 and a 12 month high of $20.60.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20. The business had revenue of $523.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $530.11 million. Wendy's had a return on equity of 75.56% and a net margin of 8.65%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.23 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.57%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. Wendy's's dividend payout ratio is presently 59.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WEN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on Wendy's from $15.50 to $16.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Wendy's in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial decreased their price target 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. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Wendy's from $26.00 to $21.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Wendy's from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Wendy's presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $16.34.

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.