Dean Investment Associates LLC Has $4.01 Million Stock Position in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Dean Investment Associates LLC reduced its position in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 21.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 228,854 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 61,722 shares during the quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $4,010,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on WEN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective 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. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research raised shares of Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.36.

Wendy’s Price Performance

WEN stock opened at $17.48 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.59. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.56 billion, a PE ratio of 18.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.77. The Wendy’s Company has a one year low of $15.61 and a one year high of $20.65.

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

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.72%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.