Edgestream Partners L.P. Increases Stock Holdings in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its position in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 255.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 88,909 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 63,883 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P.’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $1,449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Wendy’s by 670.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,402 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Wendy’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Wendy’s by 168.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,233 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Wendy’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Wendy’s by 46.4% in the fourth quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,107 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares in the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $17.00 target price (down from $20.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.08.

Wendy’s Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Wendy’s stock opened at $15.58 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 1.85. The Wendy’s Company has a 52-week low of $13.72 and a 52-week high of $20.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $15.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.93.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 75.56%. The firm had revenue of $574.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $564.17 million. Equities research analysts forecast that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 105.26%.

Wendy’s Profile

The Wendy’s Co engages in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants. It offers hamburgers and related products, such as chicken breast sandwiches, nuggets, chili, and baked potatoes, French fries, freshly prepared salads, soft drinks, milk, coffee, frosty deserts, and kid’s meals.