Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Has $159,000 Stock Position in Denny’s Co. (NASDAQ:DENN)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in Denny’s Co. (NASDAQ:DENN) by 12.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,269 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 3,722 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Denny’s worth $159,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Denny’s by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 209,163 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,265,000 after purchasing an additional 10,007 shares during the last quarter. Skylands Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Denny’s by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. Skylands Capital LLC now owns 570,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,448,000 after buying an additional 126,850 shares during the period. Access Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Denny’s by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Access Investment Management LLC now owns 218,235 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after buying an additional 3,135 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Denny’s by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,272 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $141,000 after buying an additional 4,704 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Denny’s by 244.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 75,797 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $489,000 after acquiring an additional 53,763 shares during the last quarter. 85.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Denny’s from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Denny’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wedbush decreased their price target on Denny’s from $10.00 to $8.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Denny’s from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Denny’s from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.75.

Insider Activity

In other Denny’s news, CEO Kelli Valade bought 9,700 shares of Denny’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $5.13 per share, with a total value of $49,761.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 192,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $989,094.78. This represents a 5.30 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen C. Dunn bought 9,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $5.08 per share, with a total value of $49,860.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 113,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $577,423.28. This trade represents a 9.45 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 20,465 shares of company stock valued at $104,457. 4.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Denny’s Trading Down 0.7 %

Denny’s stock opened at $4.16 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.16. Denny’s Co. has a 1-year low of $4.00 and a 1-year high of $9.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.70 million, a PE ratio of 10.15 and a beta of 2.08.

Denny’s (NASDAQ:DENN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The restaurant operator reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). Denny’s had a negative return on equity of 50.01% and a net margin of 4.77%. Research analysts forecast that Denny’s Co. will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Denny’s Company Profile

Denny’s Corp. engages in the operation of restaurants and franchised, and licensed restaurants. It operates through the Denny’s and Other segments. The Denny’s segment includes the results of all company and franchised and licensed Denny’s restaurants. The Other segment refers to the results of all company and franchise restaurants.