Trian Partners Trims its Stake in The Wendy’s Co (WEN)

Nelson Peltz and its fund Trian Partners revealed in a filing, that they own 91.49 million shares of The Wendy’s Co (NASDAQ:WEN), which represent a 23.29% stake of the common stock. In a separate filing, the fund also disclosed that it sold 16.2 million shares at a price of $8.90 per share. A couple of days ago, Trian revealed in a filing that it held 107.45 million shares, of the the company, boosting the stake from 83 million shares held at the end of third quarter of 2013.

Recently, the company tweaked its “Dutch auction” tender offer, under the terms of which it intends to buy back up to $275.0 million of common stock. The fund disclosed in the filing that it does not intend to participate in the offer because of income tax consequences. The securities have been sold by Trian in a privately-negotiated transaction

Wendy’s has laid down its guidance for the fourth quarter of 2013 and FY13, according to which it expects sales to increase by 3.1% in the fourth quarter and 1.9% in FY13. The adjusted EBITDA is expected to fall by 7% to $89.0 million in the fourth quarter and rise 10% to $367.1 million in FY13. For FY14 the company expects Same-Restaurant Sales in the range 2.5% to 3.5%

In September, Southeastern Asset Management, led by Mason Hawkins, disclosed in a filing that its position in The Wendy’s Co (NASDAQ:WEN) fell below 5%. Earlier, Mason Hawkins held some 18.88 million shares. Murray Stahl ‘s Horizon Asset Management, currently owns 27.77 million shares of The Wendy’s. D E Shaw, run by D. E. Shaw also holds around 4.58 million shares of the company.

On December 16, Scott R. Toop, Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary, purchased 10,000 shares at an average price of $8.49 per share. Scott R. Toop, has been accumulating the shares of The Wendy’s and now holds 49,500 shares. A. Scott Weisberg Chief People Officer at Wendy’s, has amassed 20,400 shares. While Gumpert Jack Wasserman, currently owns, 80,323 shares of the company.

Trian Partners is an activist hedge fund. The fund initiated a position in Allegion PLC (NYSE:ALLE) ), a spin-off from Ingersoll-Rand PLC (NYSE:IR) in December, and owns 5.74 million shares of Allegion. The fund had a raised its exposure in, Ingersoll-Rand PLC (NYSE:IR) in November, to 18.03 million shares, from 12.9 million shares.

Trian Partners, has 23.56% invested in Mondelez International Inc (NASDAQ:MDLZ), and owns 40.95 million shares of The Wendy’s Co (NASDAQ:WEN).

Disclosure: none

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