Guggenheim Capital LLC Purchases 11,812 Shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its position in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 195,372 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,812 shares during the quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC owned 0.10% of Wendy’s worth $3,185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mariner LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 62.2% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 31,070 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $506,000 after purchasing an additional 11,916 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 371.1% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 253,256 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,127,000 after acquiring an additional 199,496 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Wendy’s by 35.7% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 6,625 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 1,742 shares in the last quarter. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the 4th quarter worth $717,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Wendy’s during the fourth quarter valued at about $824,000. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on WEN. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $17.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays boosted their target price on Wendy’s from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Wendy’s from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.97.

Wendy’s Stock Up 1.1 %

Wendy’s stock opened at $12.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.49 billion, a PE ratio of 13.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.26. The Wendy’s Company has a 12 month low of $12.05 and a 12 month high of $20.65.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 75.56%. The company had revenue of $574.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $564.17 million. On average, analysts anticipate that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.89%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is 105.26%.

Wendy’s Company Profile

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.