Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 49,022 Shares of The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lessened its stake in The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN - Free Report) by 27.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 130,320 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 49,022 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 0.06% of Wendy's worth $2,125,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WEN. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Wendy's by 670.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,402 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Wendy's during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Wendy's by 168.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,233 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Wendy's in the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Wendy's by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,107 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 985 shares in the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on WEN shares. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $13.00 target price on shares of Wendy's in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Wendy's from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Wendy's from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. TD Securities decreased their price target on Wendy's from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Wendy's in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wendy's presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $16.34.

Insider Transactions at Wendy's

In related news, insider Abigail E. Pringle sold 136,819 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.81, for a total value of $1,752,651.39. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 203,005 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,600,494.05. This trade represents a 40.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 17.00% of the company's stock.

Wendy's Trading Down 1.1 %

WEN stock traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $11.99. 3,702,716 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,280,529. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 1.85. The business has a 50 day moving average of $13.71 and a 200-day moving average of $15.64. The Wendy's Company has a 52-week low of $11.70 and a 52-week high of $20.60.

Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20. Wendy's had a return on equity of 75.56% and a net margin of 8.65%. The company had revenue of $523.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $530.11 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. Wendy's's revenue 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.67%. Wendy's's dividend payout ratio is 59.57%.

Wendy's Company 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.