Citigroup Inc. Has $6.61 Million Stock Holdings in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 1,653.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 376,978 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 355,480 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned about 0.18% of Wendy’s worth $6,605,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WEN. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 76.8% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,813,786 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $115,562,000 after buying an additional 2,960,526 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Wendy’s by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,094,694 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $69,446,000 after acquiring an additional 70,514 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 113.6% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 3,491,376 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $59,214,000 after purchasing an additional 1,856,970 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Wendy’s by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,745,202 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $46,559,000 after buying an additional 102,512 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Wendy’s in the 2nd quarter worth $42,085,000. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wendy’s Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WEN opened at $18.36 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.33, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.79. The Wendy’s Company has a one year low of $15.61 and a one year high of $20.65. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $18.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.61. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.25. Wendy’s had a return on equity of 70.02% and a net margin of 8.76%. The business had revenue of $566.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $560.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.45%. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is presently 105.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WEN. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research raised shares of Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Wendy’s in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Wendy’s from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.36.

Wendy’s 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.