Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Sells 41,713 Shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd trimmed its position in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 77.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,430 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 41,713 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $203,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 159.6% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,440,880 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $112,844,000 after purchasing an additional 3,959,480 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Wendy’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $13,358,000. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in Wendy’s by 1,653.5% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 376,978 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,605,000 after acquiring an additional 355,480 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 220.5% during the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 268,531 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,377,000 after acquiring an additional 184,749 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 202.6% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 253,036 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,433,000 after acquiring an additional 169,407 shares in the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on WEN. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Tuesday. Argus raised shares of Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $17.00 target price (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.34.

Wendy’s Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WEN opened at $14.95 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.74, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.97. The Wendy’s Company has a 12 month low of $13.72 and a 12 month high of $20.65.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 75.56%. The company had revenue of $574.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $564.17 million. Analysts expect that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.69%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 105.26%.

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.