Stock Market Today, Aug. 12: Wendy's Surges 15% on Take-Private Bid Report
Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN), a quick-service burger chain with mostly franchised restaurants, closed at $8.66. Shares rose 14.70% on reports that Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management is preparing a take-private bid. Investors are watching whether a consortium forms and whether the bid advances. Trading volume reached 44.5M shares, coming in about 148% above its three-month average of 17.9M shares.
How the markets moved today
The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX:^GSPC) rose 0.27% to 7,749, while the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX:^IXIC) gained 0.54% to 26,588. Among restaurant peers, Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) closed at $150.35, up 3.87%, while Restaurant Brands International (NYSE:QSR) ended at $74.90, higher by 2.14%, keeping attention on franchised fast-food operations.
What this means for investors
Wendy’s shares ripped higher after rumors reemerged of Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management working with BlueFive Capital and Flynn Group to take the company private, just three months after this notion first surfaced. Though an offering price didn’t appear to have been set, the market pushed WEN stock higher regardless, due to a mixture of optimism about the deal and short-covering.
Trian holds roughly 8% of Wendy’s shares, and Peltz holds 16%, so I’d say the potential deal is far from a long shot, especially with Wendy’s shares down 63% over the last five years. However, without a purchase price available, it is tough to say what the best move is for current investors, especially after Wendy’s recent “kitchen sink” earnings.
Furthermore, Peltz previously discussed buying the company in 2022 and also said WEN stock looked cheap in February earlier this year, and a deal didn’t materialize, so we shouldn’t start counting our chickens before they hatch.
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Josh Kohn-Lindquist has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Restaurant Brands International and Yum! Brands. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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