Trian Fund Management L.P. Grows Holdings in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Trian Fund Management L.P. increased its position in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 0.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,525,029 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,434 shares during the quarter. Wendy’s comprises approximately 12.8% of Trian Fund Management L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Trian Fund Management L.P. owned about 14.97% of Wendy’s worth $497,558,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Wendy’s by 52.0% during the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 15,403 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 5,270 shares during the last quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Wendy’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $860,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd boosted its stake in Wendy’s by 4,354.3% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 31,180 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $508,000 after acquiring an additional 30,480 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Wendy’s by 170.8% during the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 297,187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,844,000 after acquiring an additional 187,440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc bought a new position in Wendy’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,644,000. Institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wendy’s news, insider Abigail E. Pringle sold 136,819 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.81, for a total value of $1,752,651.39. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 203,005 shares in the company, valued at $2,600,494.05. The trade was a 40.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 17.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $13.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Argus raised shares of Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Wendy’s from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $17.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, TD Securities cut their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.34.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

Shares of WEN stock opened at $12.26 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48. The firm has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a PE ratio of 12.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.40. The Wendy’s Company has a 12 month low of $11.70 and a 12 month high of $20.60.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20. The business had revenue of $523.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $530.11 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 75.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.57%. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is 59.57%.

About Wendy’s

The Wendy’s Co engages in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants. It operates through the following segments: Wendy’s U.S., Wendy’s International, and Global Real Estate and Development. The Wendy’s U.S. segment includes the operation and franchising of Wendy’s restaurants in the U.S.