Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. Increases Position in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 9.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,232 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $183,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Wendy’s by 670.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,402 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 1,220 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Wendy’s in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Wendy’s by 168.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,233 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Wendy’s during the 4th quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WEN shares. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Wendy’s from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Argus raised shares of Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $15.50 to $16.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.08.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

Shares of WEN stock opened at $14.63 on Friday. The Wendy’s Company has a 12-month low of $13.72 and a 12-month high of $20.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.76.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 75.56% and a net margin of 8.65%. The company had revenue of $574.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $564.17 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.84%. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is 105.26%.

Wendy’s Company Profile

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.