JPMorgan Chase & Co. Sells 1,819,106 Shares of The Wendy’s Company $WEN

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lessened its position in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 88.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 229,882 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,819,106 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.12% of Wendy’s worth $2,106,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 35.0% during the 2nd quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,017 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041 shares during the period. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,814 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 16,987 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $194,000 after acquiring an additional 1,310 shares during the period. Brown Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Financial Advisors now owns 29,908 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $342,000 after acquiring an additional 1,339 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 40,993 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $375,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on WEN. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $9.00 to $6.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Wendy’s from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $7.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $9.00.

Wendy’s Price Performance

WEN stock opened at $7.09 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $7.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.20. The company has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.34, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.40. The Wendy’s Company has a 52-week low of $6.67 and a 52-week high of $13.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 28.77, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.76.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $439.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $537.11 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 7.58% and a return on equity of 145.93%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. Wendy’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.560-0.600 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect 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 was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.9%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.88%.

Wendy’s Profile

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) operates as a global quick-service restaurant chain, best known for its square-shaped beef patties, fresh ingredient sourcing and signature Frosty dessert. The company’s menu features a variety of hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, salads, breakfast sandwiches, sides and beverages, designed to appeal to a broad customer base seeking both classic and contemporary fast-food options. Wendy’s has placed particular emphasis on product innovation, introducing limited-time offerings and revamped core menu items to maintain customer interest and respond to evolving dining trends.

Founded in 1969 by entrepreneur Dave Thomas in Columbus, Ohio, Wendy’s expanded rapidly through both company-owned and franchised outlets.