Joseph Group Capital Management Purchases 12,191 Shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Joseph Group Capital Management raised its position in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 14.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 95,228 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,191 shares during the quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $1,615,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WEN. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Wendy’s during the fourth quarter valued at $27,627,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,097,095 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $397,469,000 after buying an additional 1,273,140 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new position in shares of Wendy’s during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $20,574,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Wendy’s in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $17,094,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Wendy’s by 83.0% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 438,952 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $7,445,000 after acquiring an additional 199,078 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Wendy’s Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of WEN stock opened at $17.87 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a PE ratio of 18.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.80. The Wendy’s Company has a 1 year low of $15.61 and a 1 year high of $20.84. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.01, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 2.15.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.01). Wendy’s had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 67.74%. The company had revenue of $570.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $577.15 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.28 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.60%. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is 101.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WEN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Loop Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Monday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Barclays decreased their target price on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.18, for a total transaction of $17,180,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,943,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,728,745.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 17.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.