Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:TXRH) Short Interest Down 18.4% in March

Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:TXRH) saw a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,700,000 shares, a drop of 18.4% from the February 28th total of 3,310,000 shares. Approximately 4.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,100,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Texas Roadhouse Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of TXRH opened at $166.63 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $176.11 and a 200 day moving average of $181.81. The company has a market cap of $11.07 billion, a PE ratio of 25.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.00. Texas Roadhouse has a 52-week low of $146.75 and a 52-week high of $206.04.

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

Texas Roadhouse Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.68 per share. This is a boost from Texas Roadhouse’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Texas Roadhouse’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.04%.

Insider Activity at Texas Roadhouse

In other news, insider Christopher C. Colson sold 1,370 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,794,600. This represents a 12.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Regina A. Tobin sold 3,154 shares of Texas Roadhouse stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.64, for a total value of $585,508.56. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 18,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,418,374.96. The trade was a 14.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,905 shares of company stock valued at $3,198,367 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Texas Roadhouse

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in Texas Roadhouse in the third quarter worth $30,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Texas Roadhouse in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC increased its stake in Texas Roadhouse by 56.8% in the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 196 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Texas Roadhouse during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in Texas Roadhouse by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 267 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on TXRH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Texas Roadhouse from $185.00 to $184.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Texas Roadhouse from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Texas Roadhouse from $185.00 to $172.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Texas Roadhouse from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $205.00 to $213.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Texas Roadhouse from $200.00 to $180.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.36.

Texas Roadhouse Company Profile

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.