Advisors Asset Management Inc. Has $3.66 Million Stock Holdings in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 187.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 208,880 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 136,112 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Wendy’s worth $3,660,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WEN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,097,095 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $397,469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273,140 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 76.8% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,813,786 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $115,562,000 after buying an additional 2,960,526 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 1.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,094,694 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $69,446,000 after buying an additional 70,514 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in shares of Wendy’s by 113.6% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 3,491,376 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $59,214,000 after acquiring an additional 1,856,970 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,321,275 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $62,571,000 after acquiring an additional 68,356 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Wendy’s Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of WEN opened at $17.98 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $18.59 and a 200 day moving average of $17.63. The firm has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.10.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.25. The company had revenue of $566.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $560.50 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 70.02%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on WEN shares. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Wendy’s from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.36.

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.