Texas Roadhouse (NASDAQ:TXRH) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Strong Sell

Key Points

• Texas Roadhouse has been downgraded by Zacks Research from a "hold" to a "strong sell" rating, indicating significant concerns about the stock's performance.
• The stock is currently trading at $176.39, down 1.3%, and has a consensus target price of $195.40 as analysts hold a "Moderate Buy" rating on it.
• Insider trading has shown a trend of declines, with key executives selling shares, which raises questions about their confidence in the stock's future performance.

Texas Roadhouse (NASDAQ:TXRH - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Texas Roadhouse in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Texas Roadhouse in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Texas Roadhouse from $180.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Texas Roadhouse from $200.00 to $182.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Texas Roadhouse from $180.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $195.40.

Texas Roadhouse Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of Texas Roadhouse stock opened at $176.39 on Wednesday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $169.24 and its 200-day moving average is $177.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.72 billion, a PE ratio of 26.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.82. Texas Roadhouse has a 12-month low of $148.73 and a 12-month high of $206.04.

Texas Roadhouse (NASDAQ:TXRH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The restaurant operator reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Texas Roadhouse had a return on equity of 31.52% and a net margin of 7.72%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.79 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Texas Roadhouse will post 7.23 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Texas Roadhouse news, Director Gregory N. Moore sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.06, for a total value of $519,180.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 34,550 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,979,223. This represents a 7.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Regina A. Tobin sold 3,153 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.53, for a total value of $547,140.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 15,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,648,241.33. The trade was a 17.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,342 shares of company stock valued at $1,443,704 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Texas Roadhouse

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in TXRH. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Texas Roadhouse by 528.2% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,172,738 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $594,603,000 after acquiring an additional 2,667,716 shares in the last quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE boosted its stake in shares of Texas Roadhouse by 3,696.7% during the 1st quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 2,173,807 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $362,221,000 after acquiring an additional 2,116,552 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Texas Roadhouse by 209.3% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,609,608 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $268,209,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089,256 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Texas Roadhouse by 85.7% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,343,000 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $439,102,000 after acquiring an additional 1,081,413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Texas Roadhouse during the 2nd quarter worth about $159,007,000. Institutional investors own 94.82% of the company's stock.

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.

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