Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $14.44 Million Holdings in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 7.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 824,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 70,053 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.41% of Wendy’s worth $14,443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WEN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Wendy’s by 6.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,097,095 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $397,469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273,140 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Wendy’s by 76.8% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,813,786 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $115,562,000 after buying an additional 2,960,526 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Wendy’s by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,094,694 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $69,446,000 after buying an additional 70,514 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its holdings in Wendy’s by 113.6% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 3,491,376 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $59,214,000 after acquiring an additional 1,856,970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Wendy’s by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,321,275 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $62,571,000 after acquiring an additional 68,356 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WEN shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wendy’s has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.36.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

Shares of WEN stock opened at $18.02 on Wednesday. The Wendy’s Company has a 12 month low of $15.61 and a 12 month high of $20.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a PE ratio of 18.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.64. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. Analysts forecast that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.55%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 105.26%.

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.