The Wendy’s Company $WEN Stock: CenterBook Partners LP Boosts Position

CenterBook Partners LP lifted its position in shares of The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ:WEN) by 496.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,268,927 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,056,156 shares during the quarter. CenterBook Partners LP owned about 0.67% of Wendy’s worth $8,096,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wendy’s by 39.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 20,635 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $132,000 after buying an additional 5,835 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 235,125 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,500,000 after acquiring an additional 25,100 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Wendy’s by 59.2% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 17,458 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $109,000 after acquiring an additional 6,494 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Wendy’s during the 3rd quarter valued at about $974,000. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its position in Wendy’s by 46.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 22,762 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 7,179 shares during the period. 85.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wendy’s News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Wendy’s this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wendy’s reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.13 per share, above analysts’ estimates, and launched its multi-year “Dave’s Way” plan to improve traffic, market share and restaurant profitability. Quarterly results and strategy
• Positive Sentiment: The company is refreshing its menu for 2027 and tailoring breakfast offerings by location after tests found that scaling back breakfast in some locations improved profitability. These moves could help the turnaround if they attract customers and lift margins. Menu refresh
• Positive Sentiment: Wendy’s is considering acquiring as many as 163 Meritage Hospitality Group restaurants, which could give it more control over locations and support its franchise portfolio strategy, though the deal is not final. Potential restaurant acquisition
• Neutral Sentiment: Citigroup and Stephens raised their price targets to $8, while keeping neutral and equal-weight ratings, respectively. Both targets are slightly below the cited share price, suggesting limited near-term upside in their views.
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the earnings beat, quarterly earnings were below the year-ago level and revenue declined year over year, underscoring the traffic and sales challenges the turnaround must address.
• Negative Sentiment: The board rejected Trian’s $7.35-per-share buyout proposal as undervaluing Wendy’s and adopted a limited-duration “poison pill.” The offer was below the cited recent share price, but blocking it leaves investors reliant on management’s turnaround and may prolong activist-related uncertainty. Buyout proposal rejection

Wendy’s Stock Up 2.6%

WEN stock traded up $0.21 during trading on Friday, hitting $8.15. 10,028,709 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,081,420. The Wendy’s Company has a 1 year low of $5.94 and a 1 year high of $10.12. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $6.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.36. The stock has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.95, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.88.

Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $435.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $531.28 million. Wendy’s had a net margin of 5.72% and a return on equity of 115.31%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.24 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Wendy’s Company will post 0.50 EPS for the current year.

Wendy’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be issued a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 1st. Wendy’s’s payout ratio is presently 42.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WEN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Wendy’s in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Wendy’s from $6.75 to $8.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $6.00 price target on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Seaport Research Partners began coverage on Wendy’s in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Wendy’s in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Wendy’s has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $7.56.

Wendy’s Company Profile

The Wendy’s Company (NASDAQ: WEN) operates and franchises quick-service restaurants under the Wendy’s brand. Its restaurants are known for hamburgers made with fresh, never-frozen beef, along with chicken sandwiches, salads, fries, breakfast items, desserts, and beverages.

Founded by Dave Thomas in 1969, Wendy’s has grown into an international restaurant chain with locations primarily in the United States and Canada, as well as select markets in other countries. The company’s restaurant system includes both company-operated and franchised locations.

In addition to its restaurant operations, Wendy’s supports customers through digital ordering, delivery, loyalty programs, and mobile applications.