The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Shares Sold by Cadence Bank

Cadence Bank lowered its stake in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 72.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 116,692 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 308,012 shares during the period. Cadence Bank’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $2,044,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEN. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Wendy’s by 76.8% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,813,786 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $115,562,000 after acquiring an additional 2,960,526 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 70,514 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 113.6% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 3,491,376 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $59,214,000 after acquiring an additional 1,856,970 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted 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. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Wendy’s by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,745,202 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $46,559,000 after purchasing an additional 102,512 shares during the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on WEN shares. Truist Financial upped their price target on Wendy’s from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $18.00 to $18.75 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Barclays lowered 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 research report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.36.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

Shares of WEN opened at $18.39 on Wednesday. The Wendy’s Company has a 52 week low of $15.61 and a 52 week high of $20.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a PE ratio of 19.36, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $18.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.60.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.25. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 70.02% and a net margin of 8.76%. The business had revenue of $566.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $560.50 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. Wendy’s’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is presently 105.26%.

About Wendy’s

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.