Trexquant Investment LP Makes New Investment in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new position in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,023,182 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $16,678,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in Wendy’s by 3.3% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 56,603 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $992,000 after purchasing an additional 1,794 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Wendy’s by 0.6% during the third quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 92,132 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,614,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 555,980 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $9,741,000 after acquiring an additional 14,889 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in Wendy’s by 42.5% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 139,425 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,443,000 after acquiring an additional 41,616 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Wendy’s during the third quarter worth approximately $438,000. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WEN shares. Argus upgraded Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $14.00 price objective (down previously from $22.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $17.00 price target (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Wendy’s from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wendy’s has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.08.

Wendy’s Price Performance

WEN stock opened at $14.72 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $14.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.72. The Wendy’s Company has a 12-month low of $13.72 and a 12-month high of $20.65. The company has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of 15.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.73. 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 results on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 75.56%. The company had revenue of $574.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $564.17 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.79%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.