Olstein Capital Management L.P. Has $7.31 Million Position in Denny’s Co. (NASDAQ:DENN)

Olstein Capital Management L.P. reduced its holdings in Denny’s Co. (NASDAQ:DENN) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 815,813 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 21,000 shares during the period. Olstein Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Denny’s were worth $7,310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DENN. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in Denny’s by 126.7% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,538 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 2,536 shares during the period. Corton Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Denny’s in the third quarter valued at $89,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Denny’s in the fourth quarter worth $96,000. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in Denny’s during the fourth quarter worth $136,000. Finally, Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Denny’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $150,000. 85.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Denny’s Stock Down 4.4 %

NASDAQ:DENN traded down $0.30 on Wednesday, reaching $6.47. The stock had a trading volume of 456,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 548,039. The company has a market capitalization of $336.57 million, a P/E ratio of 15.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 2.01. Denny’s Co. has a 1-year low of $6.33 and a 1-year high of $12.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $7.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.86.

Denny’s (NASDAQ:DENN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $109.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $115.17 million. Denny’s had a net margin of 5.27% and a negative return on equity of 63.27%. Denny’s’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Denny’s Co. will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on DENN shares. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Denny’s in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Denny’s from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Wedbush decreased their target price on shares of Denny’s from $10.50 to $9.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Denny’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Jay C. Gilmore bought 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $6.51 per share, with a total value of $78,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief accounting officer now owns 121,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $789,187.77. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Jay C. Gilmore bought 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $6.51 per share, with a total value of $78,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief accounting officer now owns 121,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $789,187.77. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Brenda J. Lauderback sold 11,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.36, for a total transaction of $82,027.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,388.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Denny’s Profile

Denny's Corporation, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates franchised full-service restaurant chains under the Denny's and Keke's Breakfast Cafe brands in the United States and internationally. The company was formerly known as Advantica Restaurant Group, Inc and changed its name to Denny's Corporation in July 2002.