Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Sells 190,241 Shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lessened its holdings in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 3.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,845,173 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 190,241 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 2.87% of Wendy’s worth $102,407,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Wendy’s by 187.0% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 208,880 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,660,000 after acquiring an additional 136,112 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank bought a new stake in Wendy’s during the third quarter worth $1,091,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Wendy’s by 3.3% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 56,603 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $992,000 after acquiring an additional 1,794 shares in the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Wendy’s during the third quarter worth $394,000. Finally, AM Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Wendy’s during the third quarter worth $49,000. Institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on WEN. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $18.00 to $18.75 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Wendy’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.36.

Wendy’s Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Wendy’s stock opened at $18.39 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.36, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64. The Wendy’s Company has a 12-month low of $15.61 and a 12-month high of $20.65. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $18.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.60.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25. The firm had revenue of $566.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $560.50 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 70.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.27 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.44%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 105.26%.

About Wendy’s

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.