ExodusPoint Capital Management LP Purchases Shares of 88,145 Denny’s Co. (NASDAQ:DENN)

ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Denny’s Co. (NASDAQ:DENN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 88,145 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $533,000. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP owned about 0.17% of Denny’s at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Denny’s by 95.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,239 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 5,970 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Denny’s by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,175,986 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $7,585,000 after buying an additional 3,142 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd increased its stake in shares of Denny’s by 588.2% during the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 87,470 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $564,000 after buying an additional 74,760 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Denny’s by 342.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 82,257 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $531,000 after buying an additional 63,668 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Denny’s by 0.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,180,879 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,618,000 after acquiring an additional 3,902 shares in the last quarter. 85.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Denny’s Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ DENN opened at $2.99 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $4.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.65. Denny’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $2.85 and a fifty-two week high of $8.55. The company has a market capitalization of $153.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.29 and a beta of 1.87.

Denny’s (NASDAQ:DENN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The restaurant operator reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). Denny’s had a net margin of 4.77% and a negative return on equity of 50.01%. On average, analysts forecast that Denny’s Co. will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kelli Valade acquired 9,700 shares of Denny’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $5.13 per share, for a total transaction of $49,761.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 192,806 shares in the company, valued at $989,094.78. This trade represents a 5.30 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen C. Dunn bought 9,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $5.08 per share, with a total value of $49,860.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 113,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $577,423.28. The trade was a 9.45 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 20,465 shares of company stock worth $104,457 over the last three months. 4.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Denny’s from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wedbush reduced their price target on shares of Denny’s from $10.00 to $8.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Denny’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Denny’s from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Denny’s from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Denny’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.75.

Denny’s Profile

Denny’s Corp. engages in the operation of restaurants and franchised, and licensed restaurants. It operates through the Denny’s and Other segments. The Denny’s segment includes the results of all company and franchised and licensed Denny’s restaurants. The Other segment refers to the results of all company and franchise restaurants.