Trian Fund Management L.P. Sells 995,273 Shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Trian Fund Management L.P. lowered its stake in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 3.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,512,595 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 995,273 shares during the quarter. Wendy’s makes up about 13.7% of Trian Fund Management L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Trian Fund Management L.P. owned approximately 14.97% of Wendy’s worth $534,581,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEN. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 483.2% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,551 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Wendy’s by 2.1% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,321,275 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $62,571,000 after purchasing an additional 68,356 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 10.9% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 16,079 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 1,577 shares during the period. Burney Co. lifted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Burney Co. now owns 62,168 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,171,000 after buying an additional 7,078 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wendy’s in the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wendy’s Price Performance

WEN stock traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $18.55. 258,195 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,515,589. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.60. The Wendy’s Company has a one year low of $15.61 and a one year high of $20.65. The company has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.39%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WEN. 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. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Wendy’s from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wolfe Research raised Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.36.

Wendy’s 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.