Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Makes New $252,000 Investment in The Wendy’s Company $WEN

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 17,251 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $252,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,634,226 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $316,509,000 after purchasing an additional 536,071 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,767,723 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $99,012,000 after purchasing an additional 464,444 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,033,560 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $65,747,000 after purchasing an additional 43,805 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,133,832 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $51,081,000 after purchasing an additional 90,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 5.9% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,577,359 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $37,707,000 after acquiring an additional 142,500 shares during the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on WEN. Citigroup raised shares of Wendy’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $13.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.76.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wendy’s news, CMO Lindsay J. Radkoski purchased 5,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $11.68 per share, for a total transaction 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 approximately $338,206.08. This represents a 21.12% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 17.00% of the company’s stock.

Wendy’s Trading Down 2.9%

NASDAQ WEN opened at $10.27 on Thursday. The Wendy’s Company has a one year low of $9.74 and a one year high of $20.60. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $10.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 28.74, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.70, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.31.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.04. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 103.07%. The firm had revenue of $560.93 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $558.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. Wendy’s’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Wendy’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.820-0.89 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.5%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.33%.

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.