The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Shares Acquired by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN – Get Rating) by 53.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 94,821 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,022 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $1,772,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Wendy’s by 13.6% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,338 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in Wendy’s by 5.3% during the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 11,248 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Wendy’s by 0.3% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 171,098 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,198,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in Wendy’s by 1.0% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 83,122 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,554,000 after purchasing an additional 813 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Wendy’s by 59.2% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,247 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. 70.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Wendy’s news, insider Liliana Esposito sold 64,701 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.26, for a total transaction of $1,375,543.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 74,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,591,629.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Liliana Esposito sold 64,701 shares of Wendy’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.26, for a total value of $1,375,543.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,591,629.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 3,627,569 shares of Wendy’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.05, for a total value of $79,987,896.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,705,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $478,612,228.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,698,437 shares of company stock valued at $81,502,197 over the last quarter. 21.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

Shares of Wendy’s stock opened at $20.88 on Friday. The Wendy’s Company has a one year low of $15.77 and a one year high of $23.78. The company has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.29, a quick ratio of 2.71 and a current ratio of 2.73. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $22.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.35.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $536.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $534.06 million. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 41.86% and a net margin of 8.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.16 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.98 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a boost from Wendy’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 28th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.79%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 121.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer downgraded Wendy’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 5th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. StockNews.com downgraded Wendy’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 16th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Friday, January 27th. TheStreet upgraded Wendy’s from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 23rd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Wendy’s from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 5th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.97.

About Wendy’s

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The Wendy’s Co engages in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants. It offers hamburgers and related products, such as chicken breast sandwiches, nuggets, chili, and baked potatoes, French fries, freshly prepared salads, soft drinks, milk, coffee, frosty deserts, and kid’s meals.