Atria Investments Inc Buys 41,586 Shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Atria Investments Inc boosted its stake in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 78.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 94,442 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 41,586 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $1,655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Wendy’s by 76.8% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,813,786 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $115,562,000 after purchasing an additional 2,960,526 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Wendy’s during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,085,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in 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. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Wendy’s by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,097,095 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $397,469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273,140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Wendy’s during the second quarter worth $17,094,000. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wendy’s Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of WEN opened at $18.12 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $18.49 and its 200-day moving average is $17.69. The firm has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.79. 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.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.25. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 70.02%. The firm had revenue of $566.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $560.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on WEN shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $18.00 to $18.75 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Wendy’s from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.36.

Wendy’s Company Profile

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.