The latest news out of fast-food giant Wendy’s (WEN) might sound like a joke. Multiple reports, however, suggest it’s quite real. It also may be the kind of thing that kicks burger marketing up a notch. With so many competitors going after the same market, any edge in marketing could be just what’s needed.
I’m bullish on Wendy’s because it may be in a very competitive market, but it’s lasted this long already. Its chances of carrying on are surprisingly good.
Wendy’s is perhaps best described as a really, really stable stock. Aside from one spike back in June 2021 that briefly sent share prices up to $28 per share, the company has reliably traded between $20 and $24 per share for the last year. You have to go back to the height of the pandemic to see much trading out of that range.
The latest news is a bizarre yet possibly necessary step forward. Wendy’s announced its launch of the Wendyverse, a platform for users to access Wendy’s via Meta (FB), the combined virtual reality, augmented reality, and video platform. The Wendyverse will open on Horizons World.
Reports note it will feature such amenities as a park fountain that dispenses Fanta as well as the Buck BiscuitDome. The Buck BiscuitDome will play host to virtual basketball matches using a Baconator sandwich for a ball.
Wall Street’s Take
Turning to Wall Street, Wendy’s has a Moderate Buy consensus rating. That’s based on eight Buys, five Holds, and one Sell assigned in the past three months. The average Wendy’s price target of $26.81 implies 23% upside potential.
Analyst price targets range from a low of $24 per share to a high of $29 per share.
Hedge Funds Mostly Stable, Dividends on the Rise
Based on the word from TipRanks’ 13-F Tracker, there’s good news and bad news to be had about hedge fund involvement with Wendy’s. The bad news is that funds have been selling WEN stock. The good news is that the decline is almost unnoticeable.
For reference, back in January 2020, hedge funds held just over 27.3 million shares. Going into two years later, they held just over 25.37 million shares. That’s not even a 10% drop over the course of two full years. One of those years included the single worst trading environment in decades: the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wendy’s dividend history, meanwhile, looks extremely positive. While Wendy’s issued the almost-customary dividend cut of 2020, it started recovering by the end of that year. As of now, it has surpassed the amount offered in February 2020.
The Forward-Thinking Burger Joint
Give Wendy’s credit; it started off on the back foot and had to fight ever since to make its presence known. While Burger King (QSR) kicked off in 1954, and McDonald’s (MCD) got its start in 1955, Wendy’s didn’t actually start until 1969. That’s nearly 15 years’ head start for both of its major competitors.
Moreover, McDonald’s got its start in California while Burger King kicked off in Florida, meaning both could be regional powers for a while. That allowed them to build the necessary resources to stage slower but more stable expansions. Wendy’s had to start out against these two in their growing prime.
How did it compete? Mainly by innovation. Wendy’s staged global expansions within 25 years of its inception. It also brought out not only a salad bar—which was also seen in Burger King locations—but expanded that to a full buffet featuring not only salad but also Mexican and Italian dishes.
Thus, seeing Wendy’s branch out into the Metaverse really isn’t that outlandish. Sure, the notion of playing basketball with a Baconator sounds less like a fun game and more like a terrible joke or the start of a huge dry-cleaning bill. However, it’s also one of the first big moves we’ve heard about in the fast-food circuit.
Wendy’s has been aggressively fighting its competitors in the field for a long time now. Most recently, it fought Burger King on the strength of Wendy’s breakfast options. Last year, it took on McDonald’s over french fries, going so far as to offer a guarantee on Wendy’s own fries. Thus, seeing Wendy’s take to new technology is hardly a surprise.
Concluding Views
Take the company’s sheer innovation strength, couple it with an almost tailor-made profile for income investors, and you get a recipe for a stock to be bullish about. That incredibly narrow trading range helps provide peace of mind for income investors.
It’s also survived better than a half-century in an extremely competitive market. There are options for fast food literally everywhere.
Even small towns boast at least the big three in this market, with a multitude of additional options coming out regularly. Throw the quick service restaurants into the mix, and suddenly Wendy’s has even more competitors gunning for its market.
Finally, the still-stable at-home market only serves to drain the entire dining market accordingly. Yet Wendy’s has still stood and likely will stand for the foreseeable future. If Wendy’s loses enough ground in its market to close, the world economy will likely have much bigger problems to consider.
Don’t look for explosive growth out of Wendy’s. That’s not on the menu here. What you will find instead is a beautiful combination of stability, innovation, and regular dividend payments, making it the pièce de résistance for income investors.
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