Brown Financial Advisors Acquires 1,135 Shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Brown Financial Advisors grew its stake in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 26,984 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 1,135 shares during the period. Brown Financial Advisors’ holdings in Wendy’s were worth $440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WEN. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Wendy’s by 670.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,402 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Wendy’s by 168.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,233 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the period. AM Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Wendy’s in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Wendy’s by 46.4% in the 4th quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,107 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 985 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Wendy’s by 39.6% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,690 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046 shares during the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $14.00 price objective (down previously from $22.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Wendy’s from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lowered their price target on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.73.

Wendy’s Price Performance

NASDAQ WEN opened at $15.94 on Tuesday. The Wendy’s Company has a 12-month low of $13.72 and a 12-month high of $20.65. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $15.30 and its 200-day moving average is $17.04. The company has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a PE ratio of 16.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $574.27 million for 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.27%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.26%.

Wendy’s Profile

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.