Northern Trust Corp Purchases 308,142 Shares of The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) by 24.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,575,420 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 308,142 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 0.77% of Wendy's worth $25,679,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors purchased a new stake in Wendy's in the 4th quarter valued at $1,733,000. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Wendy's in the 4th quarter valued at $357,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Wendy's in the 4th quarter valued at $4,318,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Wendy's in the 4th quarter valued at $13,358,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Wendy's in the 4th quarter valued at $824,000. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wendy's Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WEN traded down $0.37 on Tuesday, hitting $11.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,010,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,271,734. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.51. The Wendy's Company has a 1 year low of $11.70 and a 1 year high of $20.60. The company has a market capitalization of $2.29 billion, a PE ratio of 12.56, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.83.

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

Wendy's Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.69%. Wendy's's dividend payout ratio is 59.57%.

Insider Activity at Wendy's

In other news, insider Abigail E. Pringle sold 136,819 shares of Wendy'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 value of $1,752,651.39. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 203,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,600,494.05. This trade represents a 40.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 17.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on WEN shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Wendy's from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Wendy's from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $17.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $13.00 target price on Wendy's in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Wendy's in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Wendy's from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wendy's has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.