California Public Employees Retirement System Boosts Stake in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 801,070 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 35,016 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $13,057,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Wendy’s by 7.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 458,106 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,187,593 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $90,887,000 after purchasing an additional 37,801 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Wendy’s by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,097,836 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $54,287,000 after purchasing an additional 115,875 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Wendy’s by 93.0% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,591,281 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,938,000 after purchasing an additional 766,910 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Wendy’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $13,358,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on WEN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $17.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $15.50 to $16.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Wendy’s from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $14.00 target price (down previously from $22.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, TD Securities restated a “hold” rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.08.

Wendy’s Trading Down 5.5 %

NASDAQ:WEN opened at $13.30 on Friday. The Wendy’s Company has a 52 week low of $13.22 and a 52 week high of $20.65. The stock has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.00, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $14.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last issued its earnings results 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 75.56% and a net margin of 8.65%. The business had revenue of $574.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $564.17 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.26%.

Wendy’s 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.