Cullen Investment Group LTD. Decreases Stock Holdings in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Cullen Investment Group LTD. reduced its position in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 42,868 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 895 shares during the period. Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s holdings in Wendy’s were worth $699,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WEN. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wendy’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $357,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Wendy’s by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 152,549 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,673,000 after purchasing an additional 2,087 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 168.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,233 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Wendy’s during the third quarter worth approximately $451,000. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 711,267 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $12,461,000 after buying an additional 102,769 shares during the last quarter. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Wendy’s from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wendy’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.04.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

WEN opened at $15.01 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $17.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.49. The company has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.78. The Wendy’s Company has a 1-year low of $14.73 and a 1-year high of $20.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.64, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.08.

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

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.66%. Wendy’s’s 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.