Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases Shares of 46,900 The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 46,900 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $914,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Highlander Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Wendy's by 250.0% in the 4th quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Wendy's by 112.0% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,444 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 763 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Wendy's by 203.2% in the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,516 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 1,016 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Wendy's in the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA bought a new stake in shares of Wendy's in the 3rd quarter worth $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.96% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WEN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stephens initiated coverage on Wendy's in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $20.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Wendy's from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Gordon Haskett lowered Wendy's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $21.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Wendy's from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Wendy's from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $22.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wendy's

In other news, Director Kenneth W. Gilbert sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.07, for a total value of $81,315.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $565,663.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 17.10% of the company's stock.

Wendy's Stock Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ WEN traded up $0.32 on Friday, reaching $20.14. The stock had a trading volume of 6,175,483 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,980,058. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $18.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.66. The Wendy's Company has a 1 year low of $17.64 and a 1 year high of $23.90. The company has a market capitalization of $4.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.82.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $540.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $546.47 million. Wendy's had a return on equity of 56.24% and a net margin of 9.37%. The business's revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.22 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that The Wendy's Company will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.97%. Wendy's's payout ratio is 102.04%.

Wendy's 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.