GSA Capital Partners LLP Sells 34,143 Shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

GSA Capital Partners LLP lowered its position in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 28.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 85,907 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 34,143 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $1,505,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WEN. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Wendy’s by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,097,095 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $397,469,000 after acquiring an additional 1,273,140 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 98.2% in the second quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 176,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,987,000 after purchasing an additional 87,254 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Wendy’s in the 2nd quarter worth about $17,094,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Wendy’s by 159.2% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 59,356 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,118,000 after buying an additional 36,456 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC grew its stake in Wendy’s by 254.6% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 175,287 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,071,000 after acquiring an additional 125,851 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WEN. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wolfe Research upgraded Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.36.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

WEN opened at $18.38 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $18.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.70. The company has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64. The Wendy’s Company has a 52-week low of $15.61 and a 52-week high of $20.65.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25. The business had revenue of $566.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $560.50 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 70.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.