Earnest Partners LLC Trims Stock Position in Denny’s Co. (NASDAQ:DENN)

Earnest Partners LLC lessened its position in shares of Denny’s Co. (NASDAQ:DENN) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,432,110 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 30,812 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC owned about 2.75% of Denny’s worth $12,832,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DENN. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Denny’s by 56.1% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 122,850 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,102,000 after purchasing an additional 44,163 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Denny’s by 2.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,335,391 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $29,885,000 after purchasing an additional 89,465 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in Denny’s by 15.3% in the first quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 1,103,727 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $9,889,000 after purchasing an additional 146,658 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its position in Denny’s by 87.2% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 29,189 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 13,600 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Denny’s by 19.9% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 267,357 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,396,000 after purchasing an additional 44,414 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Denny’s

In other Denny’s news, Director Brenda J. Lauderback sold 11,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.36, for a total value of $82,027.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,406 shares in the company, valued at $113,388.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Denny’s news, CAO Jay C. Gilmore bought 12,000 shares of Denny’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $6.51 per share, with a total value of $78,120.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief accounting officer now owns 121,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $789,187.77. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Brenda J. Lauderback sold 11,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.36, for a total transaction of $82,027.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,388.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Denny’s Stock Performance

NASDAQ DENN traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $7.48. The company had a trading volume of 560,059 shares, compared to its average volume of 550,380. Denny’s Co. has a 1-year low of $6.33 and a 1-year high of $11.91. The company has a market cap of $389.10 million, a PE ratio of 17.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 2.01. The business has a 50 day moving average of $6.99 and a 200-day moving average of $8.38.

Denny’s (NASDAQ:DENN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.14 by ($0.03). Denny’s had a net margin of 5.27% and a negative return on equity of 63.27%. The company had revenue of $109.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $115.17 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Denny’s Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Denny’s from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $8.50 price target on shares of Denny’s in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Denny’s from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Denny’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Denny’s in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Denny’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.70.

Denny’s Profile

Denny's Corporation, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates franchised full-service restaurant chains under the Denny's and Keke's Breakfast Cafe brands in the United States and internationally. The company was formerly known as Advantica Restaurant Group, Inc and changed its name to Denny's Corporation in July 2002.