International Assets Investment Management LLC Buys 45,538 Shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 1,807.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,057 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,538 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $936,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Advisor Resource Council acquired a new position in Wendy’s in the 4th quarter valued at $372,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 193.7% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,277,958 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,083,000 after purchasing an additional 842,856 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 484.0% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 209,718 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,280,000 after purchasing an additional 173,805 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,248,412 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $413,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162,540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ibex Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in Wendy’s during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,287,000. Institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Wendy’s

In other news, Director Kenneth W. Gilbert sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.07, for a total transaction of $81,315.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 31,304 shares in the company, valued at $565,663.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 17.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WEN opened at $19.96 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.66, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 2.18. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $18.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.99. The Wendy’s Company has a fifty-two week low of $17.64 and a fifty-two week high of $23.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.82.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.02). Wendy’s had a net margin of 9.37% and a return on equity of 56.24%. The firm had revenue of $540.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $546.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.01%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is currently 102.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WEN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Wendy’s from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Friday, April 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Wendy’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $20.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on Wendy’s from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wendy’s has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.47.

Wendy’s Company Profile

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