Endeavour Group Ltd (ASX: EDV) shares are edging higher today.
Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) liquor outlets, hotels, and gaming company closed yesterday trading for $3.55. In afternoon trade on Friday, shares are changing hands for $3.56 apiece, up 0.3%.
As you may know, Endeavour shares came into being in 2021, after the company's core assets – which include Dan Murphy's and BWS bottle shop chains – were spun off from Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW).
But the ASX 200 stock has been struggling since August 2022.
Over the past 12 months, Endeavour shares have fallen 28%, and shares are now down 41.8% since market close following the company's first day of trading on the ASX in June 2021.
Now, those losses will have been slightly moderated by the passive income the ASX 200 stock pays. Including the upcoming dividend payout, due to hit eligible investors' bank accounts next Tuesday, 10 October, Endeavour stock trades on a fully franked 5.3% dividend yield.
But those dividends aren't enough to lure Ten Cap's Jun Bei Liu, who recently revealed her fund has taken up a short position on the stock (courtesy of The Australian Financial Review).
Image source: Getty Images
Why Endeavour shares could keep sliding
Liu's biggest concern with the short to medium-term outlook for the ASX 200 stock looks to be that the good ship Endeavour is sailing is without a captain.
And that situation is set to continue until January 2026. Meaning the company will be without a permanent CEO during the early summer and holiday trading season, potentially further pressuring Endeavour shares.
The company first alerted the market to former CEO Steve Donohue's pending exit on 27 September 2024.
"Six years after we created Endeavour Group and with the strategy and culture well established as an independent company, now is the right time for me to pass the baton on to the next leader," Donohue said at the time.
Donohue officially stepped down on 17 March 2025, with CFO Kate Beattie stepping up as interim CEO.
And Beattie will remain acting CEO until Jayne Hrdlicka (former CEO of Virgin Australia) steps in as the new permanent chief in January.
In the meantime, Liu expects Endeavour shares to have further to fall.
"Things are just so tough for this company," Liu said.
"There isn't management there to guide it the right way… so staff morale seems to be going the wrong way and there isn't a CEO heading into this important Christmas period," she added.
