44,842 Shares in The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Purchased by Cullen Investment Group LTD.

Cullen Investment Group LTD. purchased a new stake in The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 44,842 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $874,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC acquired a new stake in Wendy's during the fourth quarter worth approximately $233,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Wendy's during the fourth quarter worth approximately $914,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Wendy's by 1,807.8% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 48,057 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $936,000 after acquiring an additional 45,538 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Wendy's by 84.2% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 22,530 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $439,000 after acquiring an additional 10,302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Wendy's by 25.8% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 22,900 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 4,693 shares during the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Wendy's news, Director Kenneth W. Gilbert sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.07, for a total transaction of $81,315.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,304 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $565,663.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 17.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wendy's Stock Up 0.3 %

WEN traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $18.82. 1,692,625 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,960,424. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $18.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.99. The company has a market cap of $3.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.20, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.82. The Wendy's Company has a fifty-two week low of $17.64 and a fifty-two week high of $23.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.66, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 2.18.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $540.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $546.47 million. Wendy's had a net margin of 9.37% and a return on equity of 56.24%. Wendy's's revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that The Wendy's Company will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.31%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Wendy's's dividend payout ratio is currently 102.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WEN shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Wendy's from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Wendy's from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Wendy's from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Wedbush cut their price target on shares of Wendy's from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of Wendy's from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $22.47.

Wendy's Company Profile

The Wendy's Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a quick-service restaurant company in the United States and internationally. It operates through Wendy's U.S., Wendy's International, and Global Real Estate & Development segments. The company is involved in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants specializing in hamburger sandwiches.