Teacher Retirement System of Texas Reduces Stock Position in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas trimmed its holdings in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 59.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,849 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 41,477 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Wendy’s were worth $454,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WEN. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 159.6% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,440,880 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $112,844,000 after purchasing an additional 3,959,480 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the fourth quarter valued at about $13,358,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 93.0% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,591,281 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,938,000 after buying an additional 766,910 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,303,279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $102,743,000 after acquiring an additional 458,106 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in Wendy’s by 7,752.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 190,032 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,885,000 after acquiring an additional 187,612 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Wendy’s Price Performance

Shares of Wendy’s stock opened at $14.63 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.73. The Wendy’s Company has a one year low of $13.72 and a one year high of $20.65. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.74.

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

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.84%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 105.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on WEN. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup raised their price target on Wendy’s from $15.50 to $16.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $17.00 price objective (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.08.

About Wendy’s

The Wendy’s Co engages in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants. It operates through the following segments: Wendy’s U.S., Wendy’s International, and Global Real Estate and Development. The Wendy’s U.S. segment includes the operation and franchising of Wendy’s restaurants in the U.S.