Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC Buys 964,771 Shares of The Wendy’s Company $WEN

Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 382.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,216,811 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 964,771 shares during the quarter. Wendy’s makes up about 0.8% of Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $11,146,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 30.1% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,843,438 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $158,092,000 after buying an additional 3,205,269 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Wendy’s by 61.3% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,041,012 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $57,568,000 after acquiring an additional 1,915,465 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Wendy’s during the third quarter valued at $36,912,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Wendy’s in the second quarter valued at about $18,929,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 932,711 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,652,000 after purchasing an additional 49,152 shares during the period. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WEN. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $9.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Argus raised shares of Wendy’s to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $7.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Monday, February 16th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on Wendy’s from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.00.

Wendy’s Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of WEN stock opened at $7.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 28.77, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.76. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 8.44, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.38. The Wendy’s Company has a 52-week low of $6.73 and a 52-week high of $15.56.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 145.93% and a net margin of 7.58%.The business had revenue of $439.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $537.11 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Wendy’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.560-0.600 EPS. On average, 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 will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is currently 65.88%.

About Wendy’s

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) operates as a global quick-service restaurant chain, best known for its square-shaped beef patties, fresh ingredient sourcing and signature Frosty dessert. The company’s menu features a variety of hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, salads, breakfast sandwiches, sides and beverages, designed to appeal to a broad customer base seeking both classic and contemporary fast-food options. Wendy’s has placed particular emphasis on product innovation, introducing limited-time offerings and revamped core menu items to maintain customer interest and respond to evolving dining trends.

Founded in 1969 by entrepreneur Dave Thomas in Columbus, Ohio, Wendy’s expanded rapidly through both company-owned and franchised outlets.