AGF Management Ltd. Reduces Stake in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

AGF Management Ltd. reduced its position in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 23.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 140,706 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 42,774 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $2,294,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Wendy’s by 159.6% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,440,880 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $112,844,000 after buying an additional 3,959,480 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Wendy’s during the fourth quarter worth $13,358,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Wendy’s by 93.0% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,591,281 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,938,000 after buying an additional 766,910 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Wendy’s by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,303,279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $102,743,000 after buying an additional 458,106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. increased its position in Wendy’s by 1,653.5% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 376,978 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,605,000 after buying an additional 355,480 shares in the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WEN shares. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group lifted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.08.

Wendy’s Price Performance

Shares of Wendy’s stock opened at $15.35 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $14.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.16, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.73. The Wendy’s Company has a twelve month low of $13.72 and a twelve month 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $574.27 million for 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

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

Wendy’s Profile

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.