McDonald's Corp. (MCD  ) rival Wendy's Co. (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%.

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.

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.

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.