Quantbot Technologies LP Buys 66,071 Shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its holdings in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 105.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 128,959 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 66,071 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $2,102,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Wendy’s by 159.6% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,440,880 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $112,844,000 after acquiring an additional 3,959,480 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Wendy’s by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,303,279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $102,743,000 after acquiring an additional 458,106 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Wendy’s by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,187,593 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $90,887,000 after acquiring an additional 37,801 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,097,836 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $54,287,000 after purchasing an additional 115,875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 93.0% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,591,281 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,938,000 after purchasing an additional 766,910 shares during the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

WEN opened at $15.26 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $14.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.83. The Wendy’s Company has a 1-year low of $13.72 and a 1-year high of $20.65. The company has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.06, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.55%. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is 105.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on WEN shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $14.00 price objective (down from $22.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.08.

Wendy’s Company Profile

The Wendy’s Co engages in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants. It offers hamburgers and related products, such as chicken breast sandwiches, nuggets, chili, and baked potatoes, French fries, freshly prepared salads, soft drinks, milk, coffee, frosty deserts, and kid’s meals.