Creative Planning Has $3.32 Million Position in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Creative Planning grew its stake in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 5.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 195,982 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 9,703 shares during the period. Creative Planning owned approximately 0.10% of Wendy’s worth $3,324,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEN. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 378.0% in the first quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 1,568 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Wendy’s during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in Wendy’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 483.2% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,551 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in Wendy’s in the first quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wendy’s

In other Wendy’s news, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.18, for a total value of $17,180,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,943,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,728,745.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

Wendy’s Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of WEN opened at $17.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.01, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.17. The Wendy’s Company has a 52-week low of $15.61 and a 52-week high of $20.65. The firm has a market cap of $3.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.81, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.80. The business’s fifty day moving average is $17.13 and its 200-day moving average is $17.64.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.01). Wendy’s had a return on equity of 67.74% and a net margin of 9.18%. The company had revenue of $570.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.15 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WEN shares. Wolfe Research upgraded Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $19.50 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Monday, September 9th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $17.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Loop Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Monday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wendy’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.24.

About Wendy’s

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.