Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Acquires 1,521,527 Shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 3,249.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,568,348 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,521,527 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $25,564,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Wendy’s by 296.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,882,829 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407,503 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,678,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Wendy’s in the fourth quarter worth $13,358,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 93.0% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,591,281 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,938,000 after acquiring an additional 766,910 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Wendy’s during the fourth quarter valued at $8,031,000. 85.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WEN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Argus raised shares of Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, TD Securities decreased their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wendy’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.81.

Wendy’s Price Performance

Shares of WEN stock opened at $12.52 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.79. The Wendy’s Company has a one year low of $12.05 and a one year high of $20.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.83.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.20. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 75.56% and a net margin of 8.65%. The company had revenue of $523.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $530.11 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.23 EPS. Wendy’s’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.47%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.57%.

Wendy’s Profile

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.