RCI Hospitality (NASDAQ:RICK) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of RCI Hospitality (NASDAQ:RICK) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a buy rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of RCI Hospitality in a research report on Monday, February 12th. TheStreet downgraded RCI Hospitality from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th.

RCI Hospitality Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:RICK opened at $50.02 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. RCI Hospitality has a 52-week low of $49.37 and a 52-week high of $79.46. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.17. The company has a market capitalization of $468.19 million, a P/E ratio of 17.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.65.

RCI Hospitality (NASDAQ:RICK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.93 by ($0.06). RCI Hospitality had a net margin of 8.81% and a return on equity of 10.67%. The company had revenue of $73.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that RCI Hospitality will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RCI Hospitality Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. RCI Hospitality’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Eric Scott Langan purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $54.54 per share, for a total transaction of $54,540.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 703,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,341,620. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 8.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RCI Hospitality

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of RICK. American Century Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of RCI Hospitality in the first quarter valued at about $459,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in RCI Hospitality by 54.8% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 4,070 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 1,440 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in RCI Hospitality in the first quarter valued at about $1,024,000. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in RCI Hospitality by 2.5% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 548,393 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,705,000 after purchasing an additional 13,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd purchased a new position in RCI Hospitality in the first quarter valued at about $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.82% of the company’s stock.

RCI Hospitality Company Profile

RCI Hospitality Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the hospitality and related businesses in the United States. It operates in Nightclubs, Bombshells, and Media Group segments. The company’s wholly-owned subsidiaries own and/or operates upscale adult nightclubs serving primarily businessmen and professionals under the Rick's Cabaret, Jaguars Club, Tootsie's Cabaret, XTC Cabaret, Club Onyx, Hoops Cabaret and Sports Bar, Scarlett's Cabaret, Temptations Adult Cabaret, Foxy's Cabaret, Vivid Cabaret, Downtown Cabaret, Cabaret East, The Seville, Silver City Cabaret, and Kappa Men's Club.