Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. Purchases New Stake in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 2,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $46,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WEN. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Wendy’s by 159.6% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,440,880 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $112,844,000 after buying an additional 3,959,480 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Wendy’s in the fourth quarter valued at $13,358,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 93.0% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,591,281 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,938,000 after purchasing an additional 766,910 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Wendy’s by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,303,279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $102,743,000 after purchasing an additional 458,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in Wendy’s by 1,653.5% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 376,978 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,605,000 after buying an additional 355,480 shares during the period. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wendy’s Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ WEN opened at $15.07 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $14.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.82. The company has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.73. The Wendy’s Company has a 1 year low of $13.72 and a 1 year high of $20.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.48, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.83.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $574.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $564.17 million. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 75.56% and a net margin of 8.65%. On average, analysts forecast that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.64%. Wendy’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on WEN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $17.00 target price (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. TD Securities reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Friday, March 7th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Argus upgraded Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on Wendy’s from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Wendy’s currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.08.

About Wendy’s

The Wendy’s Co engages in operating, developing, and franchising a system of quick-service restaurants. It offers hamburgers and related products, such as chicken breast sandwiches, nuggets, chili, and baked potatoes, French fries, freshly prepared salads, soft drinks, milk, coffee, frosty deserts, and kid’s meals.