26,525 Shares in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Bought by FORA Capital LLC

FORA Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 26,525 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $465,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 98.2% during the second quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 176,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,987,000 after purchasing an additional 87,254 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Wendy’s in the 2nd quarter valued at about $17,094,000. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Wendy’s by 254.6% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 175,287 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,071,000 after acquiring an additional 125,851 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Wendy’s by 72.0% during the third quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 66,843 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,171,000 after purchasing an additional 27,989 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in Wendy’s by 78.7% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 94,442 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,655,000 after purchasing an additional 41,586 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Wendy’s Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WEN opened at $18.53 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $18.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.61. The Wendy’s Company has a 52 week low of $15.61 and a 52 week high of $20.65. The company has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.51, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.79.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.25. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 70.02% and a net margin of 8.76%. The business had revenue of $566.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $560.50 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is currently 105.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Wendy’s presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.36.

Wendy’s Profile

The Wendy's Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a quick-service restaurant company in the United States and internationally. It operates through Wendy's U.S., Wendy's International, and Global Real Estate & Development segments. The company is involved in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants specializing in hamburger sandwiches.