Legato Capital Management LLC Sells 51,146 Shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Legato Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 57.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,537 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 51,146 shares during the period. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $628,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 92,132 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,614,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. now owns 11,689 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 25,529 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $416,000 after buying an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $51,000 after buying an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 26,865 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $471,000 after buying an additional 995 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Wendy’s Price Performance

Shares of Wendy’s stock opened at $14.76 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.13. The Wendy’s Company has a 52 week low of $13.72 and a 52 week high of $20.65. The company has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.54, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 70.02% and a net margin of 8.76%. As a group, analysts expect that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WEN. Truist Financial raised their price target on Wendy’s from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Wendy’s from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $14.00 price target (down from $22.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.43.

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.