Posts for Ticker ‘RUTH’

Ruth’s Chris, or Ruth’s Hospitality, Raising Cash (RUTH)

Money Stack ImageRuth’s Hospitality Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: RUTH) has filed a shelf registration to raise capital. The owner of the Ruth’s Chris Steak House chain has filed a mixed securities shelf to raise up to $200 million in new capital.
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Posted on: June 25, 2009 – 3:43 pm in Food, Luxury, Retail, Secondary Offering,

Top Pre-Market Analyst Downgrades (ACAS, BSX, CMVT, FSS, HPY, MRT, NENG, OTEX, RRI, RUTH)

These are some of the downgrades and cautious analyst calls we are seeing this Wednesday morning:

  • American Capital (ACAS) Cut To Underweight from Neutral By JP Morgan.
  • Boston Scientific (BSX) Cut to Underperform at Merrill Lynch.
  • Comverse Tech (CMVT) Cut to Sell at Canaccord.
  • Federal Signal Corp. (FSS) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
  • Heartland Payment Systems (HPY) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
  • Morton’s Restaurant (MRT) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
  • Network Engines (NENG) Cut Hold at Cantor Fitzgerald.
  • Open Text (OTEX) Cut to Hold at Canaccord.
  • Reliant Energy (RRI) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
  • Ruth’s Hospitality (RUTH) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.

Jon C. Ogg
October 1, 2008

Posted on: October 1, 2008 – 6:50 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

52-Week Low Club (December 28, 2007)

Some of these stocks hit 52-week lows and recovered off of lows so they won’t have a low close.  But these did all touch or breach the 52-week lows.  At the end we also broke out retail stocks, financial stocks, airlines & transports, and hotels.  A separate report could have been compiled for REIT’s as well, but many of those were left off because of room or volume. There were enough 52-week lows today that you might even wonder if there had been a mini-crash in the markets.  Here are the 52-week lows for December 28, 2007:

  • Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD)… imagine if the company got Hector Ruiz to leave.
  • American Greetings (NYSE: AM)…again.
  • AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN)… new entrant.
  • Carmike Cinemas (NASDAQ:CKEC)
  • ChipMOS (NASDAQ:IMOS)
  • Corp. Office Property (NYSE: OFC)
  • Cryptologic (NASDAQ: CRYP)
  • Diebold (NYSE:DBD)
  • Fortune Brands (NYSE:FO)
  • Group 1 Auto (NYSE: GPI)
  • Infinera Corp. (NASDAQ: INFN)
  • Introgen (NASDAQ:INGN)
  • Japan Smaller Cap Fund (NYSE: JOF)
  • Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ: LAMR)
  • Legget & Platt (NYSE: LEG)
  • Martha Stewart (NYSE: MSO)
  • Marvell Tech (NASDAQ:MRVL)
  • Mattel (NYSE:MAT)
  • McClatchy (NYSE:MNI)
  • Micron Tech (NYSE:MU)
  • NGAS Resources (NASDAQ:NGAS)
  • Nortel Networks (NYSE:NT)
  • Owens Corning (NYSE:OC)
  • Omnicare (NYSE:OCR)
  • Prestige Brand (NYSE: PBH)
  • PC-Tel (NASDAQ:PCTI)
  • Ruth’s Chris (NASDAQ:RUTH)
  • SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK)
  • Theravance (NASDAQ:THRX)
  • Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO)
  • Wendy’s (NYSE: WEN)
  • World Fuel Services (NYSE:INT)
  • U-Store-It (NYSE:YSI)

Retail Stocks on 52-week lows: Ann Taylor (NYSE:ANN), Big Lots (NYSE:BIG), Borders Group (NYSE:BGP), Bon Ton Stores (NASDAQ:BONT), Chico’s FAS (NYSE:CHS), Finish Line (NASDAQ:FINL), Liz Claiborne (NYSE: LIZ), Macy’s (NYSE: M), Office Max (NYSE:OMX), Petsmart (NASDAQ:PETM), Stage Stores (NYSE:SSI)

Financial stocks on 52-week lows: Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC), Citigroup (NYSE:C), Canseco (NYSE: CNO), Discover Financial (NYSE: DFS), Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB), Fortress Investment (NYSE: FIG), MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBI), Washington Mutual (NYSE:WM)… urgh!  When does it stop?

Airlines/Transports on 52-week lows:  Airtran Holdings (NYSE: AAI)…again.  Did they launch a Friends Die Free rewards plan?  Continental Airlines (NYSE:CAL), Fedex (NYSE:FDX), Mesa Air (NASDAQ:MESA), Northwest Airlines (NYSE: NWA)… near $100 oil is a real pain.

Hotels Hitting 52-week lows: Host Hotels (NYSE: HST), Lasalle Hotel (NYSE: LHO), Starwood Hotels (NYSE:HOT), Sunstone Hotel (NYSE: SHO), Wydham Worldwide (NYSE:WYN).  Maybe these all wish they could get the private equity buyers back in the sector.  If only they could still borrow.

These CEO’s new year’s resolutions are all the same: "In 2008 I want to keep my stock off the 52-week low lists."

Jon C. Ogg
December 28, 2007

Posted on: December 28, 2007 – 3:01 pm in HI/LOW, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Pre-Market Stock News (December 20, 2007) (ACN, ATVI, ALTU, ARRY, ATHX, BSC, BX, CAKE, ECHO, INTU, FDX, MLHR, IDEV, LDK, LEG, LOCM, NKE, ORCL, PIR, RIMM, RAD, RUTH, SMOD, SCS, DEEP, TRB)

This is not every bit of news on individual stocks but this is the major news affecting many shares in pre-market activity this Thursday morning:

  • Accenture (ACN) stock up 4% after posting $0.60 EPS vs. estimate of $0.56.
  • Activision (ATVI) again guided earnings higher.
  • Altus Pharmaceuticals (ALTU) traded down almost 20% after it reacquired ALTU-238 development and commercialization rights for North America from Genentech, an end to the development pact.
  • Array BioPharma (ARRY) traded down almost 20% after it announced initial results from a Phase II study comparing its monotherapy with temozolomide in the first-line treatment of advanced melanoma showed no apparent difference in efficacy for the primary endpoint.
  • Athersys (ATHX) and Angiotech announce authorization of Phase I stem cell trial for heart attacks.
  • Bear Stearns (BSC) expected to post first loss.
  • Blackstone (BX) plans to sell a $9 Billion CMBS offer backed by Hilton Hotels in Q1 2008.
  • Cheesecake Factory (CAKE) had a 10% stake taken by activist Nelson Peltz.
  • Electronic Clearing house (ECHO) getting acquired by intuit for $17.00 per share.
  • FedEx (FDX) $1.54 EPS vs. $1.50 estimates (had been lowered) but next quarter $1.15-1.30 vs. $1.38 est.; $6.40 to $6.70 for year bvs. $6.47 estimate.
  • Herman Miller (MLHR) $0.72EPS Vs. estimate of $0.59; stock rose about 10%.
  • Indevus Pharma (IDEV) trading down about 5% on a non-approvable letter from the FDA for VALSTAR NDA supplement (submitted May 2007).
  • Intuit (INTU) paying $131 Million for ECHO.
  • LDK Solar (LDK) $0.37 EPS on $157M revenues vs. $0.37/$143.22M est.; Q4 guidance $0.40-$0.41 on $180-$185M revenues vs. $0.41/$167.5M est.; stock indicated down 5%.
  • Leggett & Platt (LEG) stock down about 5% on lower guidance.
  • Local.com (LOCM) announced a strategic partnership with IAC/Interactive’s Citysearch; stock trading up 7% on news.
  • Nike (NKE) traded up 3% after $0.71 EPS on $4.3 Billion revenues vs. estimates $0.66/$4.3B.
  • Oracle (ORCL) traded up 6% after beating earnings and giving slightly higher guidance; sees enterprise spending lasting into 2008.
  • Pier 1 (PIR) -$0.11 EPS vs -$0.24 estimate.
  • Research-in-Motion (RIMM) reports earnings after the close today.
  • Rite Aid (RAD) indicated down about 5% after posting loss.
  • Ruths Chris (RUTH) gave an earnings warning.
  • Smart Modular Tech (SMOD) $0.18 EPS vs. $0.17 estimate.
  • Steelcase (SCS) $0.30 EPS vs. $0.28 estimate.
  • Superior Offshore (DEEP) signed a letter of intent with a strategic partner for ownership of a DP-III deepwater construction and dive support vessel expected to be delivered in late 2008.
  • Tribune (TRB) buyout supposedly set to close today.

Jon C. Ogg
December 20, 2007

Posted on: December 20, 2007 – 8:02 am in Pre-Market Activity, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Top Earnings Next Week: July 30 & 31 (APC, FPL, HUM, MNST, OSTK, RSH, SUNW, VZ, AEP, ADP, AVR, BWLD, CMG, COH, RIO, FSLR, GM, IACI, IMCL, NVT, NMX, RNWK, RUTH, SIRI, UA, WFMI)

MONDAY, JULY 30, 2007
ABN AMRO (ABN)
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC)
Archer Daniels Midland (ADM)
Cameco (CCJ)
FPL Group (FPL)
HSBC Holdings (HBC)
Humana (HUM)
Monster Worldwide (MNST)
Overstock.com (OSTK)
RadioShack Corp. (RSH)
Simon Property (SPG)
Statoil (STO)
Sun Microsystems (SUNW)
Principal Financial Group (PFG)
Tyson Foods (TSN)
Verizon (VZ)
Wm Wrigley (WWY)

TUESDAY, JULY 31, 2007
Alcan (AL)
American Capital Strategies (ACAS)
American Electric Power    (AEP)
Aon Corporation    (AOC)
Automatic Data Processing (ADP)
Aventine Renewable Energy (AVR)
Avon Products (AVP)
Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. (BWLD)
CBS Corp. (CBS)
Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG)
Coach, Inc. (COH)
Companhia Vale do Rio Doce-CVRD    (RIO)
Crown Castle International (CCI)   
CryoLife, Inc. (CRY)
Denny’s Corp. (DENN)
DreamWorks Animation SKG (DWA)
Encore Acquisition Company (EAC)
FEI Company (FEIC)
First Solar (FSLR)
Fresh Del Monte (FDP)
Gartner (IT)
General Cable Corp. (BGC)
General Motors (GM)
Headwaters Inc. (HW)   
IAC/Interactive (IACI)
ImClone Systems (IMCL)
IndyMac Bancorp    (IMB)
Liz Claiborne (LIZ)
Marathon Oil (MRO)
MetLife Inc. (MET)
NAVTEQ Corp. (NVT)
NCR Corp. (NCR)
Nicor Inc. (GAS)
Northwest Airlines (NWA)
NYMEX Holdings (NMX)
PMI Group (PMI)
RealNetworks (RNWK)
RenaissanceRe Holdings (RNR)
Ruth’s Chris Steak House (RUTH)
SiRF Tech (SIRF)   
Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI)
St. Joe Company    (JOE)
Trimble Navigation (TRMB)
Tupperware Brands (TUP)
Turbochef (OVEN)
Under Armour (UA)
Valero Energy (VLO)
Vornado Realty Trust (VNO)
Waste Industries (WWIN)
Waste Management (WMI)
Watts Water Tech (WTS)
WebMD Health (WBMD)   
Whole Foods Market (WFMI)

We will be following up with many of these individually over the weekend and early in the week with full earnings previews.  Have a great weekend.

-The 24/7 Wall St., LLC team

Posted on: July 27, 2007 – 3:43 pm in Calendar, Earnings, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How Cheesecake Factory Can Fix Its Downgrade Problems (CAKE)

Cheesecake Factory (CAKE-NASDAQ) is trading down more than 7% to $24.80 on almost triple its normal volume after multiple analyst downgrades based upon comments from a growth conference.  Yesterday, at a William Blair Growth Conference, Cheesecake Factory said second-quarter revenue would increase by 14.5% to 15.5%, implying sales of $369.4 million to $372.6 million.  The problem is that analysts’ consensus forecast is $378.9 million, according to First Call.

This morning Bear Stearns downgraded shares from ‘Outperform’ to ‘Peer Perform’ because higher dairy costs won’t be fully offset by higher menu prices.  Raymond James also downgraded shares from a ‘Strong Buy’ to an ‘Outperform’ rating.  CIBC World Markets also cuts its ‘Sector Outperform’ rating to a lower ‘Sector Perform’ rating, and Robert W. Baird maintained a ‘Neutral’ rating but trimmed earnings estimates.  Back on June 8, shares fell after FBR removed the company from its ‘Top Pick list’ of stocks.  On June 1, shares were trading at $28.39.

Part of the problem is that the food chain is not really in the middle of the road dining establishments and it isn’t really considered ultra-fine or upscale dining.  It’s above the Darden (DRI-NYSE) and Brinker (EAT-NYSE) restaurant chains, and below the high-end steakhouses like Ruth’s Chris (RUTH-NASDAQ).  So what can the company do to offset higher dairy costs and higher food costs?  The company operates ‘The Cheesecake Factory’ and ‘Grand Lux Cafe’ restaurants and if you have been to either of these you will know what I mean when I say "Beltbuster servings" and "To-Go Leftovers."  The portions here are gi-normous where most appetizers can be entrees and entrees can be split.  Higher prices were already indicated as an offset to higher dairy prices, but the company can easily cut down the portions by as little as 5%.  Food cost cuts in a restaurant add right to the bottom line if they aren’t noticed, and the company doesn’t even have to announce they are trimming the sizes if it is by this little.  Most consumers will say this is foodie-sacrilege, but at this operator it will never be missed.

As a reminder, this is a stock that Jim Cramer also said in April could be a target of private equity or a management-endorsed buyout.

Jon C. Ogg
June 21, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in any of the companies he covers.

Posted on: June 21, 2007 – 10:03 am in Analyst Calls, Food, , , ,