Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 28.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 397,391 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 157,477 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.19% of Wendy’s worth $6,962,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Wendy’s in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Wendy’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Wendy’s by 483.2% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,551 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Wendy’s in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Wendy’s during the first quarter worth about $44,000. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WEN. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Barclays decreased their price target on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.36.

Wendy’s Price Performance

Wendy’s stock opened at $18.02 on Wednesday. The Wendy’s Company has a 1 year low of $15.61 and a 1 year high of $20.65. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $18.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.64. The company has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.97, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.10.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25. The business had revenue of $566.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $560.50 million. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 70.02% and a net margin of 8.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.27 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.55%. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is currently 105.26%.

Wendy’s 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.