Trian Fund Management L.P. Buys 12,434 Shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Trian Fund Management L.P. raised its stake in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 0.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 30,525,029 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 12,434 shares during the period. Wendy’s accounts for 12.8% of Trian Fund Management L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Trian Fund Management L.P. owned 0.15% of Wendy’s worth $497,558,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WEN. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 3,249.7% in the fourth quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 1,568,348 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,564,000 after acquiring an additional 1,521,527 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 296.1% in the fourth 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 shares of Wendy’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $16,678,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Wendy’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $13,358,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake 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 valued at $25,938,000 after acquiring an additional 766,910 shares in the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WEN. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Wendy’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Wendy’s from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $17.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.34.

Insider Activity at Wendy’s

In related news, insider Abigail E. Pringle sold 136,819 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 203,005 shares in the company, valued at $2,600,494.05. This trade represents a 40.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 17.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wendy’s Stock Up 2.5%

WEN stock opened at $12.26 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48. The Wendy’s Company has a 12 month low of $11.70 and a 12 month high of $20.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $13.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.31.

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

Wendy’s Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.57%. 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.