Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 15,192 The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC purchased a new stake in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 15,192 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $266,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Wendy’s in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Wendy’s during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Wendy’s during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 94.7% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,644 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286 shares during the period. Finally, AM Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Wendy’s during the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on WEN shares. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $18.00 to $18.75 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.36.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

Shares of Wendy’s stock opened at $17.11 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $18.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The Wendy’s Company has a fifty-two week low of $15.61 and a fifty-two week high of $20.65.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25. The company had revenue of $566.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $560.50 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 70.02%. Wendy’s’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.84%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.26%.

Wendy’s Company Profile

The Wendy's Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a quick-service restaurant company in the United States and internationally. It operates through Wendy's U.S., Wendy's International, and Global Real Estate & Development segments. The company is involved in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants specializing in hamburger sandwiches.