The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Has $2.27 Million Holdings in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its position in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 138,958 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 3,069 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.07% of Wendy’s worth $2,265,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Wendy’s by 296.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,882,829 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,690,000 after acquiring an additional 1,407,503 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in Wendy’s during the 4th quarter worth $16,678,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Wendy’s in the 4th quarter valued at $13,358,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 93.0% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,591,281 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,938,000 after buying an additional 766,910 shares during the period. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the fourth quarter worth $8,031,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on WEN. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Wendy’s from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $17.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Argus upgraded Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Wendy’s presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.34.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wendy’s news, insider Abigail E. Pringle sold 136,819 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.81, for a total value of $1,752,651.39. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 203,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,600,494.05. This represents a 40.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 17.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wendy’s Price Performance

NASDAQ WEN opened at $11.99 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a PE ratio of 12.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.40. The Wendy’s Company has a 12-month low of $11.70 and a 12-month high of $20.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $13.71 and its 200-day moving average is $15.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20. The firm had revenue of $523.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $530.11 million. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 75.56% and a net margin of 8.65%. The business’s revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.67%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.57%.

Wendy’s Company 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.