Wendy’s International (NYSE: WEN) shares are well off of their 52-week highs of around $42.22 but the company is moving forward with its turnaround plan while an activist investor is still pushing for a sale. Management is now facing a race against the clock to prove that it can remain a viable investment on its own before billionaire activist investor Nelson Peltz makes his second run at the board in an attempt to take over and sell the company. Luckily, shareholders benefit from either situation and it has never been a better time to own Wendy’s!

Wendy’s announced new plans today to roll out inexpensive sandwich wraps and a new hamburger to jump start sales as the U.S. economy weakens. The fast food chain acknowledged that the consumer environment has changed drastically from a year ago and is now focusing on growing the top line through unique new offerings. The chief executive is focused on ending five years of declining traffic with its most aggressive new product line-up since the mid-1990’s. Meanwhile, the company is also continuing to improve its bottom line by focusing on raising margins by restructuring and controlling costs. Some of these efforts have been seen in recent earnings, but the company still has a long way to go towards any meaningful turnaround.

Wendy’s has also been weighing a sale since June 2007 under pressure from billionaire activist investor Nelson Peltz, who owns nearly 10% of the company and is now seeking control after failing to successfully purchase it. Peltz announced his plans to overhaul the company’s board of directors on February 11th when he nominated his own slate of directors in a regulatory filing with the SEC. The legendary activist proposed expanding the board to 15 members and nominating six in a move that would give him effective control over the company as he already control three seats since 2006. Given his prior pushes towards a sale, once can assume that his motives have not changed and that he will push to sell the company at an attractive price.

In the end, this is all good news for shareholders who have nothing to lose and everything to gain is Nelson Peltz successfully takes over the company while the company itself is already working on a turnaround in case the move falls through. Wendy’s is a stock in transition and it will be interesting to see what happens to it over the next few months as the next annual meeting approaches. Combined, these factors make WEN a stock worth watching!

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