The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Shares Sold by Cullen Investment Group LTD.

Cullen Investment Group LTD. decreased its position in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,763 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,731 shares during the quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $767,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of Wendy’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,533,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,273,140 shares during the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. increased its position in shares of Wendy’s by 98.2% in the 2nd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 176,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,987,000 after purchasing an additional 87,254 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Wendy’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $20,574,000. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 175.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 11,235 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 7,161 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wendy’s news, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,943,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,728,745.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

Wendy’s Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WEN traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $17.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,498,220 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,412,779. The Wendy’s Company has a one year low of $15.61 and a one year high of $20.65. The company has a market cap of $3.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $17.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.64. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.01.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 67.74% and a net margin of 9.18%. The company had revenue of $570.73 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.15 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.98 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.67%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Wendy’s from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Wendy’s from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Monday, September 9th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.24.

Wendy’s 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.