California Public Employees Retirement System Purchases 35,016 Shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 801,070 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 35,016 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.39% of Wendy’s worth $13,057,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEN. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Wendy’s by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 25,529 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $416,000 after acquiring an additional 717 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 57,400 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $979,000 after buying an additional 797 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Wendy’s by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 15,634 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Wendy’s by 46.4% in the 4th quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,107 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Wendy’s by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 11,232 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $183,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on WEN shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $15.50 to $16.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Argus raised shares of Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Wendy’s from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wendy’s has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.08.

Wendy’s Stock Down 5.5 %

Wendy’s stock opened at $13.30 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.65. The Wendy’s Company has a 1-year low of $13.22 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.

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

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is 105.26%.

About Wendy’s

The Wendy’s Co engages in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants. It operates through the following segments: Wendy’s U.S., Wendy’s International, and Global Real Estate and Development. The Wendy’s U.S. segment includes the operation and franchising of Wendy’s restaurants in the U.S.