The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Shares Purchased by Nisa Investment Advisors LLC

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 84.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 22,530 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,302 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $439,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEN. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Wendy’s by 76.5% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 81,161 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,783,000 after purchasing an additional 35,183 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 16.3% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 25,011 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $549,000 after acquiring an additional 3,498 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the 1st quarter valued at $215,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 30.1% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 26,257 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $577,000 after acquiring an additional 6,073 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the 1st quarter valued at $221,000. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wendy’s Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ WEN opened at $19.02 on Thursday. The Wendy’s Company has a 1-year low of $17.64 and a 1-year high of $23.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.66. The company has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a PE ratio of 19.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.99.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $546.47 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.26%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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 shares were sold at an average price of $18.07, for a total transaction of $81,315.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $565,663.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Wendy’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Wendy’s from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Stephens began coverage on Wendy’s in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Wendy’s from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Wendy’s from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wendy’s presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.47.

Wendy’s Company Profile

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.