Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys Shares of 46,900 The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 46,900 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $914,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Trian Fund Management L.P. boosted its stake in Wendy’s by 60.9% in the third quarter. Trian Fund Management L.P. now owns 33,350,743 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $680,689,000 after acquiring an additional 12,618,115 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 6.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,248,412 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $413,270,000 after buying an additional 1,162,540 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 1.4% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,270,722 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $107,575,000 after buying an additional 70,832 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 0.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,674,711 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $95,411,000 after buying an additional 17,319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 3.7% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,208,882 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $65,492,000 after buying an additional 113,406 shares during the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kenneth W. Gilbert sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.07, for a total transaction of $81,315.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 31,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $565,663.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WEN shares. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Stephens started coverage on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Friday, April 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $20.00 price objective on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Wendy’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $20.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased 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 report on Friday, February 16th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.47.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

Shares of Wendy’s stock opened at $19.82 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.00. The company has a market cap of $4.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.82. The Wendy’s Company has a fifty-two week low of $17.64 and a fifty-two week high of $23.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.66, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.19.

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

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.05%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 102.04%.

About Wendy’s

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.