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

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

TXRH has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Texas Roadhouse in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $213.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Texas Roadhouse from $185.00 to $184.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Texas Roadhouse from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley upgraded Texas Roadhouse from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $205.00 to $213.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Texas Roadhouse from $185.00 to $172.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Texas Roadhouse currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Texas Roadhouse

In other Texas Roadhouse news, President Regina A. Tobin sold 3,154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.64, for a total transaction of $585,508.56. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Curtis Warfield sold 3,281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.67, for a total transaction of $602,621.27. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,249,139.67. This represents a 32.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,905 shares of company stock valued at $3,198,367 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Texas Roadhouse

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TXRH. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Texas Roadhouse by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,540,615 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,180,123,000 after acquiring an additional 76,051 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Texas Roadhouse by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,479,323 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $447,344,000 after purchasing an additional 138,675 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Texas Roadhouse by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,982,848 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $350,171,000 after purchasing an additional 38,723 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Texas Roadhouse by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,300,987 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $234,737,000 after purchasing an additional 402,465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Texas Roadhouse by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,207,645 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $217,959,000 after purchasing an additional 6,004 shares during the period. 94.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Texas Roadhouse Stock Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:TXRH traded up $2.79 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $171.71. 200,350 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 839,882. The company has a market cap of $11.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.00. Texas Roadhouse has a 1 year low of $146.75 and a 1 year high of $206.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $175.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $181.85.

Texas Roadhouse (NASDAQ:TXRH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The restaurant operator reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. Texas Roadhouse had a return on equity of 34.02% and a net margin of 8.07%. Equities analysts forecast that Texas Roadhouse will post 7.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Texas Roadhouse Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. This is a boost from Texas Roadhouse’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. Texas Roadhouse’s payout ratio is 42.04%.

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.