WINTON GROUP Ltd Increases Stock Position in The Wendy’s Company $WEN

WINTON GROUP Ltd grew its stake in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 48.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 291,578 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 95,596 shares during the quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd owned 0.15% of Wendy’s worth $2,417,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in shares of Wendy’s during the 1st quarter valued at about $161,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in Wendy’s by 1.8% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 639,085 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $9,350,000 after acquiring an additional 11,072 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its position in Wendy’s by 35.0% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 15,687 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $179,000 after acquiring an additional 4,067 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in Wendy’s by 136.9% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 27,776 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $318,000 after acquiring an additional 16,053 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 8.4% during the second quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 16,987 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $194,000 after acquiring an additional 1,310 shares in the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on WEN. Morgan Stanley set a $5.50 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Wendy’s from $8.00 to $8.25 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $8.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $8.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $7.78.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

Shares of WEN stock opened at $7.63 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.56, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $7.91 and a 200 day moving average of $7.47. The Wendy’s Company has a 52 week low of $6.07 and a 52 week high of $10.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.95.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.02. Wendy’s had a net margin of 5.72% and a return on equity of 115.31%. The business had revenue of $570.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $557.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.29 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Wendy’s Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.42%.

About Wendy’s

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) operates as a global quick-service restaurant chain, best known for its square-shaped beef patties, fresh ingredient sourcing and signature Frosty dessert. The company’s menu features a variety of hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, salads, breakfast sandwiches, sides and beverages, designed to appeal to a broad customer base seeking both classic and contemporary fast-food options. Wendy’s has placed particular emphasis on product innovation, introducing limited-time offerings and revamped core menu items to maintain customer interest and respond to evolving dining trends.

Founded in 1969 by entrepreneur Dave Thomas in Columbus, Ohio, Wendy’s expanded rapidly through both company-owned and franchised outlets.