Regal Investment Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Regal Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 47,439 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $805,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its holdings in Wendy’s by 378.0% in the first quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 1,568 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Wendy’s during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Wendy’s by 483.2% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,551 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Wendy’s in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Wendy’s in the first quarter worth about $44,000. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEN has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Wendy’s from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Wendy’s from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.24.

Wendy’s Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WEN opened at $17.66 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $17.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.64. The Wendy’s Company has a 52-week low of $15.61 and a 52-week high of $20.65. The company has a market cap of $3.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.01, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.17.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.01). Wendy’s had a return on equity of 67.74% and a net margin of 9.18%. The firm had revenue of $570.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $577.15 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. Wendy’s’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.66%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.01%.

Insider Activity at Wendy’s

In other Wendy’s news, Director Matthew H. Peltz sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.18, for a total transaction of $17,180,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,943,466 shares in the company, valued at $256,728,745.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 17.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Wendy’s

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.