The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) Shares Acquired by M&T Bank Corp

M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 49.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 15,677 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,163 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Colonial Trust Co SC acquired a new stake in Wendy’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Wendy’s by 1,111.9% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,133 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,957 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Wendy’s during the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Wendy’s by 91.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,266 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Wendy’s during the fourth quarter worth approximately $67,000. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related 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 sale, the insider directly owned 203,005 shares in the company, valued at $2,600,494.05. The trade was a 40.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Lindsay J. Radkoski acquired 5,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $11.68 per share, for a total transaction of $58,984.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 28,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $338,206.08. This represents a 21.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 17.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WEN opened at $10.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.34. The Wendy’s Company has a 1-year low of $10.33 and a 1-year high of $20.60. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $11.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 24.88, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.47.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.20. The company had revenue of $523.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $530.11 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.57% and a return on equity of 85.36%. The business’s revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.23 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on WEN. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $21.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley set a $11.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $14.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.63.

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.