The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Shares Bought by State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System

State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its stake in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 7.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 257,230 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 17,682 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System owned 0.12% of Wendy’s worth $5,602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ahrens Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wendy’s during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Wendy’s during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Wendy’s in the first quarter worth about $30,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp raised its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 31,560.0% during the fourth quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 1,583 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,578 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 88.7% in the first quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 1,866 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 877 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wendy’s

In related news, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 2,905,569 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.30, for a total transaction of $58,983,050.70. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,827,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $361,889,297.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 20.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on WEN shares. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Wendy’s from $25.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 10th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $27.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Thursday, August 10th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $29.00 to $31.00 in a report on Thursday, August 10th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $26.50 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Tuesday, September 12th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.29.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WEN opened at $20.45 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.56, a current ratio of 2.48 and a quick ratio of 2.46. The Wendy’s Company has a 1 year low of $18.50 and a 1 year high of $23.90.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 9th. The restaurant operator reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.86% and a return on equity of 47.23%. The business had revenue of $561.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $566.24 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.24 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 1st were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 31st. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is 111.11%.

About Wendy’s

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.