RCI Hospitality (NASDAQ:RICK) Receives Buy Rating from HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright reissued their buy rating on shares of RCI Hospitality (NASDAQ:RICK) in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $98.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com raised RCI Hospitality from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th.

RCI Hospitality Price Performance

NASDAQ RICK traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $49.45. The stock had a trading volume of 108,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 77,239. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $43.94 and its 200 day moving average is $45.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $445.05 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.10 and a beta of 1.56. RCI Hospitality has a twelve month low of $37.61 and a twelve month high of $69.40.

RCI Hospitality (NASDAQ:RICK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The restaurant operator reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by ($1.27). The business had revenue of $76.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.79 million. RCI Hospitality had a return on equity of 1.76% and a net margin of 1.67%. RCI Hospitality’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that RCI Hospitality will post 0.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RCI Hospitality Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. This is a positive change from RCI Hospitality’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. RCI Hospitality’s payout ratio is presently 53.85%.

Institutional Trading of RCI Hospitality

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in RCI Hospitality by 6.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,204 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $360,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of RCI Hospitality by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 25,558 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,113,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of RCI Hospitality during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of RCI Hospitality by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,719 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in RCI Hospitality in the third quarter valued at about $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.82% of the company’s stock.

RCI Hospitality Company Profile

RCI Hospitality Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the hospitality and related businesses in the United States. It operates in Nightclubs, Bombshells, and Media Group segments. The company’s wholly-owned subsidiaries own and/or operates upscale adult nightclubs serving primarily businessmen and professionals under the Rick's Cabaret, Jaguars Club, Tootsie's Cabaret, XTC Cabaret, Club Onyx, Hoops Cabaret and Sports Bar, Scarlett's Cabaret, Temptations Adult Cabaret, Foxy's Cabaret, Vivid Cabaret, Downtown Cabaret, Cabaret East, The Seville, Silver City Cabaret, and Kappa Men's Club.