Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Buys 128,579 Shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 85.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 279,041 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 128,579 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $4,548,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 670.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,402 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Wendy’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Colonial Trust Co SC purchased a new stake in Wendy’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Wendy’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wendy’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $67,000. Institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Lindsay J. Radkoski purchased 5,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $11.68 per share, with a total value of $58,984.00. Following the acquisition, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 28,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $338,206.08. This represents a 21.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Abigail E. Pringle sold 136,819 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.81, for a total value of $1,752,651.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 203,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,600,494.05. This trade represents a 40.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 17.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WEN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Argus raised shares of Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, TD Securities decreased their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.34.

Wendy’s Price Performance

Shares of WEN opened at $11.60 on Wednesday. The Wendy’s Company has a fifty-two week low of $10.98 and a fifty-two week high of $20.60. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a PE ratio of 12.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 1.85.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.20. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 75.56% and a net margin of 8.65%. The company had revenue of $523.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $530.11 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.23 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.83%. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is presently 59.57%.

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.