Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Grows Holdings in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 21.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,941 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,685 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $752,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 48,893 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $829,000 after acquiring an additional 711 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 15,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $286,000 after acquiring an additional 801 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 51,523 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $874,000 after acquiring an additional 810 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 40,985 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $772,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,432 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 949 shares during the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.18, for a total transaction of $17,180,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,943,466 shares in the company, valued at $256,728,745.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 17.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

Wendy’s stock opened at $19.70 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $17.49 and a 200-day moving average of $17.65. The Wendy’s Company has a 52 week low of $15.61 and a 52 week high of $20.65.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.01). Wendy’s had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 67.74%. The business had revenue of $570.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $577.15 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.08%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Monday, July 15th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $19.50 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.22.

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.