Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:TXRH) Director Gregory N. Moore Sells 2,700 Shares

Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:TXRH) Director Gregory N. Moore sold 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.26, for a total value of $454,302.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Texas Roadhouse Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ TXRH opened at $184.09 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $178.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $180.42. Texas Roadhouse, Inc. has a twelve month low of $146.75 and a twelve month high of $206.04. The stock has a market cap of $12.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.02.

Texas Roadhouse (NASDAQ:TXRH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The restaurant operator reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.07. Texas Roadhouse had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 34.02%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.41 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Texas Roadhouse, Inc. will post 7.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Texas Roadhouse Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This is a boost from Texas Roadhouse’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Texas Roadhouse’s dividend payout ratio is 42.04%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Texas Roadhouse

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TXRH. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Texas Roadhouse during the fourth quarter valued at about $155,239,000. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Texas Roadhouse by 81.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 898,522 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $158,679,000 after buying an additional 403,720 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Texas Roadhouse by 76.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 893,925 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $157,375,000 after buying an additional 385,998 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in shares of Texas Roadhouse in the third quarter worth $66,609,000. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Texas Roadhouse by 255.1% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 520,352 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $93,888,000 after acquiring an additional 373,812 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Texas Roadhouse from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $192.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Texas Roadhouse from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $213.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Texas Roadhouse in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $213.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Texas Roadhouse from $185.00 to $172.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Texas Roadhouse from $205.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.73.

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.