The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Stock Position Lowered by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its position in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 142,027 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 10,263 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.07% of Wendy’s worth $2,488,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Wendy’s by 76.8% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,813,786 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $115,562,000 after buying an additional 2,960,526 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 1.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,094,694 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $69,446,000 after acquiring an additional 70,514 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 113.6% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 3,491,376 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $59,214,000 after acquiring an additional 1,856,970 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Wendy’s by 3.9% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,745,202 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $46,559,000 after purchasing an additional 102,512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Wendy’s in the second quarter valued at about $42,085,000. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WEN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given 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, Wendy’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.36.

Wendy’s Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of WEN stock opened at $17.48 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64. The Wendy’s Company has a 1 year low of $15.61 and a 1 year high of $20.65. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.72%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.