Cullen Investment Group LTD. Takes Position in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Cullen Investment Group LTD. bought a new stake in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 44,842 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $874,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC acquired a new position in Wendy’s during the fourth quarter worth $233,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Wendy’s during the fourth quarter worth $914,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Wendy’s by 1,807.8% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 48,057 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $936,000 after acquiring an additional 45,538 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Wendy’s by 84.2% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 22,530 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $439,000 after acquiring an additional 10,302 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Wendy’s by 25.8% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 22,900 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 4,693 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on WEN. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Wendy’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $24.00 to $20.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Wendy’s from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Barclays lowered Wendy’s from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $23.00 to $21.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Wendy’s from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Wedbush reduced their price objective on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wendy’s

In other Wendy’s news, Director Kenneth W. Gilbert sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.07, for a total transaction of $81,315.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 31,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $565,663.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 17.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wendy’s Price Performance

WEN stock opened at $18.76 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.66, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.19. The Wendy’s Company has a 1 year low of $17.64 and a 1 year high of $23.90. The firm has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.01.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.02). Wendy’s had a net margin of 9.37% and a return on equity of 56.24%. The business had revenue of $540.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $546.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.22 EPS. Wendy’s’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.33%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 102.04%.

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.