International Assets Investment Management LLC Purchases 45,538 Shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 1,807.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 48,057 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 45,538 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $936,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WEN. KG&L Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Wendy’s during the 4th quarter valued at $274,000. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in Wendy’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $581,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Wendy’s by 58.0% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,352 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 863 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC lifted its position in Wendy’s by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 764,673 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $14,896,000 after acquiring an additional 23,973 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 172.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 38,798 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $756,000 after acquiring an additional 24,561 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped 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. Barclays cut shares of Wendy’s from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $23.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Wendy’s from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of 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, Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kenneth W. Gilbert sold 4,500 shares of Wendy’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.07, for a total transaction of $81,315.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 31,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $565,663.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

Wendy’s Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ WEN opened at $19.96 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $18.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.99. The Wendy’s Company has a 12 month low of $17.64 and a 12 month 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 cap of $4.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.37, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.82.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $546.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.22 earnings per share. Wendy’s’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.01%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 102.04%.

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.