M&T Bank Corp Acquires 5,163 Shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 49.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,677 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,163 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $229,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Colonial Trust Co SC bought a new position in Wendy’s during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 1,111.9% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,133 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,957 shares during the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Wendy’s in the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wendy’s in the 4th quarter worth about $67,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 91.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,266 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 2,033 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WEN shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $14.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Wendy’s from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $17.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Wendy’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $21.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wendy’s

In other news, CMO Lindsay J. Radkoski acquired 5,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $11.68 per share, with a total value of $58,984.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief marketing officer owned 28,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $338,206.08. This trade represents a 21.12% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Abigail E. Pringle sold 136,819 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.81, for a total transaction of $1,752,651.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 203,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,600,494.05. This represents a 40.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

WEN opened at $10.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 24.88, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $11.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.35. The Wendy’s Company has a 1 year low of $10.33 and a 1 year high of $20.60. The stock has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.34.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.20. The company had revenue of $523.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $530.11 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.57% and a return on equity of 85.36%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.23 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Wendy’s Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is presently 59.57%.

Wendy’s Profile

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.