The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Shares Purchased by Maverick Capital Ltd.

Maverick Capital Ltd. raised its position in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 98.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 176,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 87,254 shares during the quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. owned about 0.09% of Wendy’s worth $2,987,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WEN. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its holdings in Wendy’s by 378.0% during the first quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 1,568 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wendy’s during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Wendy’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Wendy’s by 483.2% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,551 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Wendy’s in the first quarter worth $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Wendy’s in a report on Thursday, June 13th. They set a “sell” rating and a $16.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wendy’s has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.24.

Wendy’s Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of WEN opened at $17.69 on Friday. The Wendy’s Company has a fifty-two week low of $15.61 and a fifty-two week high of $20.65. The company has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 17.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $17.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.01, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.17.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 EPS 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 business had revenue of $570.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $577.15 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.98 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 5.65%. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is currently 101.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 shares were sold at an average price of $17.18, for a total transaction of $17,180,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,943,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,728,745.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

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.