Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. Invests $46,000 in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN)

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $46,000.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on WEN shares. Argus raised shares of Wendy’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $14.00 price objective (down previously from $22.00) on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Wendy’s from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Wendy’s from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.08.

Wendy’s Price Performance

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

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wendy’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.64%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is 105.26%.

Wendy’s Company Profile

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.