Cetera Investment Advisers Buys 2,579 Shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 41,507 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,579 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Wendy’s were worth $677,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Wendy’s by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,303,279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $102,743,000 after acquiring an additional 458,106 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Wendy’s by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,033,560 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $65,747,000 after buying an additional 43,805 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Wendy’s by 296.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,882,829 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407,503 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Wendy’s by 93.0% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,591,281 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,938,000 after purchasing an additional 766,910 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Wendy’s by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,575,420 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,679,000 after purchasing an additional 308,142 shares during the period. 85.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on WEN. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $15.50 to $16.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Wendy’s from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Argus raised Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $13.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wendy’s has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.34.

Wendy’s Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of WEN opened at $11.44 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $13.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.03. The Wendy’s Company has a 52 week low of $11.24 and a 52 week high of $20.60. The company has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.04, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.40.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.20. The business had revenue of $523.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $530.11 million. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 75.56% and a net margin of 8.65%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.23 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.57%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Abigail E. Pringle sold 136,819 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.81, for a total value of $1,752,651.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 203,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,600,494.05. This represents a 40.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 17.00% of the company’s stock.

About Wendy’s

The Wendy’s Co engages in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants. It operates through the following segments: Wendy’s U.S., Wendy’s International, and Global Real Estate and Development. The Wendy’s U.S. segment includes the operation and franchising of Wendy’s restaurants in the U.S.