819,483 Shares in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Acquired by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 819,483 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $13,358,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.40% of Wendy’s as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position 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 valued at $69,446,000 after purchasing an additional 70,514 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of Wendy’s by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 46,945 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $796,000 after buying an additional 953 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 106,230 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,802,000 after acquiring an additional 3,218 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in Wendy’s by 16.2% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 14,860 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $244,000 after purchasing an additional 2,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wendy’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,060,000. Institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Wendy’s Price Performance

Shares of WEN opened at $14.60 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of 15.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.78. The Wendy’s Company has a 52-week low of $14.57 and a 52-week high of $20.65. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $16.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.43. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 analysts’ expectations of $560.50 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.27 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.85%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on WEN shares. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Wendy’s from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.99.

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.