State of Alaska Department of Revenue Cuts Stock Position in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue cut its holdings in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,482 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,765 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $360,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WEN. Advisor Resource Council acquired a new position in shares of Wendy’s during the fourth quarter worth about $372,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Wendy’s by 193.7% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,277,958 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,083,000 after buying an additional 842,856 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in shares of Wendy’s by 484.0% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 209,718 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,280,000 after buying an additional 173,805 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Wendy’s by 6.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,248,412 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $413,270,000 after buying an additional 1,162,540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ibex Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Wendy’s during the third quarter worth about $4,287,000. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WEN shares. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Wendy’s from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Wedbush lowered their price target on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Gordon Haskett downgraded Wendy’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $21.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Wendy’s from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wendy’s has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.47.

Wendy’s Price Performance

Wendy’s stock opened at $18.60 on Friday. The Wendy’s Company has a 12 month low of $17.64 and a 12 month high of $23.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.66, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 2.18. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a PE ratio of 18.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.82.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.02). Wendy’s had a return on equity of 56.24% and a net margin of 9.37%. The company had revenue of $540.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $546.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. Wendy’s’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is 102.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Wendy’s news, Director Kenneth W. Gilbert sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.07, for a total value of $81,315.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 31,304 shares in the company, valued at $565,663.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 20.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.