CKE to Finance Stock Purchase

CKE Restaurants Inc., which has seen its stock lose more than three-fourths of its value since the start of the year, said Monday it will lend up to $10 million to senior management and directors to buy shares of the Anaheim company’s stock on the open market.

It’s the second such arrangement that a company run by William P. Foley II has announced in the last week in an effort to revive its sagging stock.

CKE shares closed Monday at $7.13, down 13 cents. The stock traded as high as $30.31 a share in January. It reached a 52-week low of $6.38 on Thursday.

CKE operates more than 3,800 quick-service restaurants, including 890 Carl’s Jr. and 2,786 Hardee’s restaurants. A slower-than-expected effort to remodel Hardee’s has sapped earnings.

Last week, Foley’s American National Financial Inc. said it will lend up to $2 million to senior managers and directors to buy stock in the Irvine-based title company. American National’s board also authorized the repurchase of up to 500,000 shares of common stock.

The shares, which traded as high as $7.44 in February, closed Monday at $3.94, up 56 cents.