Texas Roadhouse (NASDAQ:TXRH) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:TXRH)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $157.90, but opened at $170.10. Texas Roadhouse shares last traded at $165.63, with a volume of 350,741 shares traded.

The restaurant operator reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.04. Texas Roadhouse had a return on equity of 29.49% and a net margin of 6.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.28 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Texas Roadhouse Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. This is a positive change from Texas Roadhouse’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. Texas Roadhouse’s payout ratio is presently 49.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Texas Roadhouse from $120.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Texas Roadhouse from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Texas Roadhouse from $142.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Texas Roadhouse from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Northcoast Research lowered Texas Roadhouse from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Texas Roadhouse presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $151.30.

Insider Activity at Texas Roadhouse

In other news, Director Donna E. Epps sold 670 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.97, for a total value of $100,479.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $621,175.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Texas Roadhouse news, CEO Gerald L. Morgan sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.90, for a total transaction of $739,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 92,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,732,071.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Donna E. Epps sold 670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.97, for a total value of $100,479.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $621,175.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,382 shares of company stock worth $1,843,145 in the last three months. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Texas Roadhouse

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Texas Roadhouse by 1.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,807,430 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $173,694,000 after acquiring an additional 29,506 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Texas Roadhouse by 0.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,611,543 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $154,869,000 after buying an additional 8,392 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Texas Roadhouse by 40.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,281,296 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $123,133,000 after buying an additional 370,627 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Texas Roadhouse by 26.3% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 985,795 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $94,735,000 after acquiring an additional 205,064 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneva Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Texas Roadhouse by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 948,219 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $115,901,000 after acquiring an additional 69,536 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.82% of the company’s stock.

Texas Roadhouse Trading Up 3.6 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $10.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.12, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $152.50 and a 200-day moving average of $129.78.

About Texas Roadhouse

Texas Roadhouse, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates casual dining restaurants in the United States and internationally. It also operates and franchises restaurants under the Texas Roadhouse, Bubba's 33, and Jaggers names in 49 states and ten internationally. Texas Roadhouse, Inc was founded in 1993 and is based in Louisville, Kentucky.