CKE Shares Drop Below $5 for First Time Since Mid-’95

CKE Restaurants Inc.’s slumping stock on Thursday dropped below $5 a share for the first time in nearly five years, a day after the Anaheim-based company posted disappointing results and said it may hire an investment banker to explore possible options for its Hardee’s restaurants.

The company’s shares closed at $4.44, down 75 cents, the first time since mid-1995 that the stock has traded below $5.

The company said it’s confident that it can rejuvenate the Hardee’s chain and is continuing to remodel the restaurants. But CKE decided to explore “strategic alternatives.”

“You could liken it to an insurance policy,” said CKE spokeswoman Suzi Brown. “Based on our performance over the past year, we feel we need to have this contingency plan in place.”

She did not elaborate on what options it might consider, pointing out that CKE is just in the initial stages of selecting an investment banker.

On Wednesday, CKE reported an operating loss of $12.5 million for the fourth quarter, compared with an operating profit of $13 million a year ago, as revenue rose 10% to $475.5 million. Sales at stores open a year were down 2.2% for the Hardee’s chain.