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McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE:MCD) rival Wendy's Co. (NASDAQ:WEN) is facing an acute slide in its operational health, as reflected by a major drop in its quality ranking, even while it continues to offer one of the industry's highest dividend yields at 6.21%. Check out WEN’s stock price over here. Wendy's Hits The Lowest Rung In Quality Score The company now finds itself in the bottom 10th percentile of U.S.-listed stocks on the latest quality score by Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings, signaling a significant deterioration in its underlying fundamentals as perceived against peers. The quality score is a composite metric, synthesizing indicators like profitability, efficiency, and overall financial health relative to industry competitors. Wendy's has seen its score dip to 11.16, confirming it as one of the lowest-scoring consumer cyclical stocks in the restaurant space. This percentile-based plunge places Wendy’s alongside other troubled names in the sector—despite its popularity with dividend investors, who typically seek out stable, cash-generating businesses. See Also: American Express Quality Improves Following Upbeat Earnings, Analyst Upgrades What Do Other Rankings Show For Wendy’s? Other critical indicators from the latest Benzinga Edge Stock Ranking report paint a stark picture: Wendy's momentum sits at just 5.76, growth at 41.48, value at 36.94, all well below median industry benchmarks, with every timeframe showing a negative price trend as of the latest review. Additional performance details are available here. Analysts appear to agree on muted prospects. Barclays recently lowered its price target from $11 to $9, and Jefferies from $10 to $9, both maintaining neutral stances amid a backdrop of shrinking revenue estimates and flat earnings projections compared with a year ago. Wendy’s Underperforms The Market In 2025 WEN was trading 0.56% lower in premarket on Tuesday. It ended at $8.93 per share on Monday. The stock has declined 44.60% year-to-date and 56.23% over the year. Investors watching for a turnaround will be focused on third-quarter results due Nov. 7. Analysts, as per Benzinga Pro, expect it to report earnings of $0.20 per share on revenue of $537.16 million. On Tuesday, the futures of the S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq 100 indices were mixed. Meanwhile, on Monday, the S&P 500 index ended 1.23% higher at 6,875.16, whereas the Nasdaq 100 index rose 1.83% to 25,821.54. On the other hand, Dow Jones advanced 0.71% to end at 47,544.59. Read Next: Mounjaro Maker Eli Lilly Jumps In Quality Despite Trump-Fueled Price Cut Fears Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Image via Shutterstock
