Quantbot Technologies LP Purchases 66,071 Shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 105.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 128,959 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 66,071 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP owned about 0.06% of Wendy’s worth $2,102,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sciencast Management LP bought a new position in shares of Wendy’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $256,000. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Wendy’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $173,000. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 27,325 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $445,000 after buying an additional 2,004 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 29.9% during the 4th quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 271,398 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,424,000 after buying an additional 62,518 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 57,400 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $979,000 after buying an additional 797 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $15.50 to $16.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Argus upgraded shares of Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.08.

Wendy’s Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WEN opened at $15.26 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $14.98 and a 200-day moving average of $16.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a PE ratio of 16.06, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48. The Wendy’s Company has a 12 month low of $13.72 and a 12 month high of $20.65.

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. The company had revenue of $574.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $564.17 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 75.56%. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.26%.

About Wendy’s

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.