Denny's Co. (NASDAQ:DENN) Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its holdings in Denny's Co. (NASDAQ:DENN - Free Report) by 10.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,229,510 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 370,376 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 6.29% of Denny's worth $19,539,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Denny's by 95.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,239 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 5,970 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Denny's by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,175,986 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $7,585,000 after purchasing an additional 3,142 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Denny's by 342.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 82,257 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $531,000 after purchasing an additional 63,668 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Denny's by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,180,879 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $7,618,000 after purchasing an additional 3,902 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Denny's by 244.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 75,797 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $489,000 after buying an additional 53,763 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.07% of the company's stock.

Denny's Trading Up 2.8 %

NASDAQ:DENN traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $3.36. The stock had a trading volume of 1,385,396 shares, compared to its average volume of 893,354. The company has a market cap of $172.96 million, a PE ratio of 8.20 and a beta of 1.87. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.49. Denny's Co. has a 1-year low of $2.85 and a 1-year high of $8.41.

Denny's (NASDAQ:DENN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The restaurant operator reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). Denny's had a net margin of 4.77% and a negative return on equity of 50.01%. Research analysts expect that Denny's Co. will post 0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Denny's

In related news, EVP Stephen C. Dunn acquired 9,815 shares of Denny's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $5.08 per share, for a total transaction of $49,860.20. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 113,666 shares of the company's stock, valued at $577,423.28. The trade was a 9.45 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kelli Valade acquired 9,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $5.13 per share, with a total value of $49,761.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 192,806 shares in the company, valued at $989,094.78. This represents a 5.30 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 20,465 shares of company stock valued at $104,457. 4.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup reduced their target price on Denny's from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com cut Denny's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wedbush cut their price target on shares of Denny's from $10.00 to $8.50 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Denny's from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Denny's from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $7.75.

About Denny's

Denny's Corp. engages in the operation of restaurants and franchised, and licensed restaurants. It operates through the Denny's and Other segments. The Denny's segment includes the results of all company and franchised and licensed Denny's restaurants. The Other segment refers to the results of all company and franchise restaurants.