Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:TXRH) Short Interest Update

Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:TXRH) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,310,000 shares, a growth of 43.3% from the February 13th total of 2,310,000 shares. Approximately 5.0% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,020,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Texas Roadhouse Price Performance

NASDAQ TXRH opened at $171.95 on Tuesday. Texas Roadhouse has a 12 month low of $146.75 and a 12 month high of $206.04. The company has a market capitalization of $11.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $177.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $181.29.

Texas Roadhouse (NASDAQ:TXRH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The restaurant operator reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.07. Texas Roadhouse had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 34.02%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Texas Roadhouse will post 7.23 EPS for the current year.

Texas Roadhouse Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.68 dividend. This is an increase from Texas Roadhouse’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Texas Roadhouse’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Christopher C. Colson sold 1,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.46, for a total transaction of $245,860.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,794,600. This represents a 12.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregory N. Moore sold 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.26, for a total transaction of $454,302.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 17,905 shares of company stock valued at $3,198,367. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Texas Roadhouse by 8,594.4% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,130 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 3,094 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in shares of Texas Roadhouse in the 3rd quarter worth about $17,853,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Texas Roadhouse by 194.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 67,733 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $11,962,000 after buying an additional 44,768 shares during the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp bought a new position in shares of Texas Roadhouse in the 4th quarter worth about $316,000. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank acquired a new position in Texas Roadhouse during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,554,000. 94.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on TXRH shares. Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Texas Roadhouse from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $192.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Texas Roadhouse from $185.00 to $172.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Texas Roadhouse from $194.00 to $178.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Texas Roadhouse from $205.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Texas Roadhouse from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $205.00 to $213.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Texas Roadhouse has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.73.

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.