Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Trims Stake in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lessened its holdings in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 30.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,076 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 4,374 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $164,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 92,132 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,614,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares during the period. Probity Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. now owns 11,689 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $205,000 after buying an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,107 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 26,865 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $471,000 after buying an additional 995 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 39.6% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,690 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 1,046 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

Shares of WEN stock opened at $14.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.10. The Wendy’s Company has a one year low of $13.72 and a one year high of $20.65. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.54, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.77.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 70.02%. Equities analysts anticipate that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on WEN. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Wendy’s from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Wendy’s from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Wendy’s from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wendy’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.43.

Wendy’s Company Profile

The Wendy’s Co engages in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants. It offers hamburgers and related products, such as chicken breast sandwiches, nuggets, chili, and baked potatoes, French fries, freshly prepared salads, soft drinks, milk, coffee, frosty deserts, and kid’s meals.