Poinciana Advisors Group LLC Makes New Investment in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Poinciana Advisors Group LLC bought a new position in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 17,444 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $284,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEN. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 670.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,402 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,220 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 168.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,233 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Wendy’s during the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,107 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Wendy’s from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Argus upgraded Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $15.50 to $16.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.08.

Wendy’s Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ WEN opened at $15.35 on Friday. The Wendy’s Company has a 1-year low of $13.72 and a 1-year high of $20.65. 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 has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a PE ratio of 16.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $14.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.89.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $574.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $564.17 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 105.26%.

About Wendy’s

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.