Colonial Trust Co SC Makes New $31,000 Investment in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Colonial Trust Co SC bought a new position in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,898 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $31,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 25,529 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Wendy’s by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 57,400 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $979,000 after acquiring an additional 797 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Wendy’s by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 15,634 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Wendy’s by 46.4% in the fourth quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,107 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares during the period. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Wendy’s by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 11,232 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $183,000 after buying an additional 1,008 shares during the period. 85.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wendy’s Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WEN opened at $11.99 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48. The stock has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a PE ratio of 12.62, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s fifty day moving average is $13.71 and its 200 day moving average is $15.61. The Wendy’s Company has a 52 week low of $11.70 and a 52 week high of $20.60.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.20. The firm had revenue of $523.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $530.11 million. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 75.56% and a net margin of 8.65%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.23 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Wendy’s Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is 59.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Wendy’s from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $17.00 to $15.00 in a report on Monday, May 5th. Argus upgraded shares of Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $13.00 price objective on Wendy’s in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.34.

Insider Activity at Wendy’s

In other Wendy’s news, insider Abigail E. Pringle sold 136,819 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.81, for a total value of $1,752,651.39. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 203,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,600,494.05. The trade was a 40.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 17.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Wendy’s

The Wendy’s Co engages in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants. It operates through the following segments: Wendy’s U.S., Wendy’s International, and Global Real Estate and Development. The Wendy’s U.S. segment includes the operation and franchising of Wendy’s restaurants in the U.S.