FY2017 EPS Estimates for Ruth’s Hospitality Group Inc. (RUTH) Cut by Jefferies Group

Ruth’s Hospitality Group Inc. (NASDAQ:RUTH) – Equities researchers at Jefferies Group reduced their FY2017 EPS estimates for Ruth’s Hospitality Group in a research report issued on Tuesday. Jefferies Group analyst A. Barish now expects that the firm will post earnings of $1.04 per share for the year, down from their prior forecast of $1.06. Jefferies Group currently has a “Hold” rating and a $17.00 price target on the stock.

Separately, Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Ruth’s Hospitality Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Ruth’s Hospitality Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.00.

Shares of Ruth’s Hospitality Group (NASDAQ:RUTH) traded up 1.37% on Thursday, hitting $15.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 280,676 shares. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $16.17 and its 200-day moving average is $16.78. Ruth’s Hospitality Group has a 52 week low of $14.90 and a 52 week high of $18.78. The company has a market cap of $507.22 million and a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.52.

Ruth’s Hospitality Group (NASDAQ:RUTH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 28th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.01. The business earned $101.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $104.56 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis.

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Ruth’s Hospitality Group stock. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Ruth’s Hospitality Group Inc. (NASDAQ:RUTH) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 64,688 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,129 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.19% of Ruth’s Hospitality Group worth $1,030,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Ruth’s Hospitality Group, Inc develops and operates fine dining restaurants under the name, Ruth’s Chris Steak House. The Company operates through two segments: the Company-owned steakhouse restaurant segment and the franchise operations segment. The Company’s Ruth’s Chris restaurants cater to special occasion diners and frequent customers, in addition to the business clientele.