Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC Invests $161,000 in Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TAST)

Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TAST) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 20,459 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $161,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in TAST. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of Carrols Restaurant Group by 462.9% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,207,273 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,165,000 after buying an additional 2,637,485 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Carrols Restaurant Group by 5,058.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 730,757 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,816,000 after purchasing an additional 716,590 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC bought a new position in Carrols Restaurant Group during the second quarter worth $1,055,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Carrols Restaurant Group by 359.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 636,734 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,209,000 after purchasing an additional 498,266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Carrols Restaurant Group by 287.2% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 667,496 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,364,000 after purchasing an additional 495,096 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Craig Hallum restated a “hold” rating on shares of Carrols Restaurant Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $9.55 price objective (down from $13.00) on shares of Carrols Restaurant Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Carrols Restaurant Group in a research note on Monday, April 15th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $9.55 target price (down from $10.00) on shares of Carrols Restaurant Group in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.87.

Carrols Restaurant Group Stock Performance

TAST stock opened at $9.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $546.26 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.31 and a beta of 2.50. Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $3.30 and a 1 year high of $9.54. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $9.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.18.

Carrols Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:TAST) last posted its earnings results on Friday, March 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $470.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $470.41 million. Carrols Restaurant Group had a return on equity of 19.41% and a net margin of 1.80%. On average, research analysts predict that Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc. will post 0.64 EPS for the current year.

Carrols Restaurant Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. Carrols Restaurant Group’s payout ratio is currently 15.38%.

Carrols Restaurant Group Company Profile

Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates restaurants in the United States. It operates quick service restaurants as a franchisee under the Burger King and Popeyes brands in 23 Northeastern, Midwestern, Southcentral, and Southeastern states. The company was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Syracuse, New York.