Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Buys 2,815 Shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN – Get Rating) by 16.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 20,284 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,815 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $379,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Wendy’s by 391.3% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,397,196 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $45,259,000 after purchasing an additional 1,909,235 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Wendy’s by 86.6% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,683,410 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $50,661,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245,024 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in Wendy’s in the 1st quarter worth $26,018,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Wendy’s in the 1st quarter worth $23,989,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Wendy’s by 39.8% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,109,753 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $46,352,000 after purchasing an additional 601,122 shares during the period. 70.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wendy’s Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WEN opened at $21.78 on Friday. The Wendy’s Company has a 1 year low of $15.77 and a 1 year high of $23.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.76, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 2.60. The company’s 50-day moving average is $22.26 and its 200 day moving average is $20.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.90.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 9th. The restaurant operator reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.01. Wendy’s had a net margin of 9.26% and a return on equity of 39.75%. The business had revenue of $532.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $542.23 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 1st were paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 30th. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is currently 57.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TheStreet upgraded shares of Wendy’s from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 23rd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 12th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 5th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Thursday, December 15th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $24.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.33.

About Wendy’s

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The Wendy's Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a quick-service restaurant company. It operates through three segments: Wendy's U.S., Wendy's International, and Global Real Estate & Development. The company is involved in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants specializing in hamburger sandwiches.