Ruth’s Hospitality Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUTH) – Equities research analysts at Piper Sandler decreased their Q1 2020 EPS estimates for Ruth’s Hospitality Group in a research note issued on Monday, March 16th. Piper Sandler analyst N. Regan now anticipates that the restaurant operator will earn $0.40 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $0.46. Piper Sandler has a “Neutral” rating and a $8.00 price objective on the stock.
Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. BidaskClub downgraded shares of Ruth’s Hospitality Group from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Raymond James raised shares of Ruth’s Hospitality Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. ValuEngine downgraded shares of Ruth’s Hospitality Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Ruth’s Hospitality Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, CL King started coverage on shares of Ruth’s Hospitality Group in a research note on Monday, March 9th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.20.
Shares of NASDAQ:RUTH opened at $4.46 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $158.89 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $18.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05. Ruth’s Hospitality Group has a 12 month low of $2.32 and a 12 month high of $27.14.
Ruth’s Hospitality Group (NASDAQ:RUTH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 21st. The restaurant operator reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $135.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $134.76 million. Ruth’s Hospitality Group had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 44.54%.
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.45%. This is a boost from Ruth’s Hospitality Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Ruth’s Hospitality Group’s payout ratio is currently 41.96%.
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Man Group plc increased its position in shares of Ruth’s Hospitality Group by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 321,265 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,993,000 after buying an additional 19,300 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Ruth’s Hospitality Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $599,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ruth’s Hospitality Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $55,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Ruth’s Hospitality Group in the fourth quarter worth about $640,000. Finally, UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its holdings in Ruth’s Hospitality Group by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 24,985 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $544,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.
Ruth’s Hospitality Group Company Profile
Ruth’s Hospitality Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, operates, and franchises fine dining restaurants under the Ruth’s Chris Steak House name. Its restaurants offer food and beverage products to special occasion diners and frequent customers, as well as business clientele.
