Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 586 Shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 22.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,220 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 586 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $63,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Highlander Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 250.0% in the fourth quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 112.0% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,444 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 763 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 203.2% during the third quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,516 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 1,016 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 58.0% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,352 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 863 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein cut 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 research note 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 research note on Tuesday, February 20th. UBS Group increased their target price on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Wendy’s from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wendy’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Juan Carlos Loredo sold 44,806 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.50, for a total transaction of $873,717.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 27,586 shares in the company, valued at $537,927. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Wendy’s news, CMO Juan Carlos Loredo sold 44,806 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.50, for a total value of $873,717.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 27,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $537,927. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth W. Gilbert sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.07, for a total transaction of $81,315.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $565,663.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

Wendy’s Price Performance

WEN stock opened at $17.77 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $18.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.99. The stock has a market cap of $3.65 billion, a PE ratio of 17.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.21. The Wendy’s Company has a 1 year low of $17.64 and a 1 year high of $22.91.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $534.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $540.84 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 9.44% and a return on equity of 62.68%. Wendy’s’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.21 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that The Wendy’s Company will post 1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.63%. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is presently 101.01%.

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.