Short Interest in RCI Hospitality Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:RICK) Declines By 18.6%

RCI Hospitality Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:RICK) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 469,900 shares, a decrease of 18.6% from the March 15th total of 577,100 shares. Currently, 5.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 69,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.8 days.

Institutional Trading of RCI Hospitality

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RICK. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in RCI Hospitality by 330.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 13,593 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $605,000 after acquiring an additional 10,433 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in RCI Hospitality by 1,839.9% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 155,525 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $8,938,000 after purchasing an additional 147,508 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of RCI Hospitality by 233.4% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,784 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 4,049 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of RCI Hospitality by 63.7% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 104,930 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,030,000 after purchasing an additional 40,822 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of RCI Hospitality by 29.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 65,654 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,773,000 after purchasing an additional 14,919 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on RICK. StockNews.com upgraded shares of RCI Hospitality from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $98.00 target price on shares of RCI Hospitality in a report on Wednesday, April 9th.

RCI Hospitality Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ RICK traded up $0.14 during trading on Monday, hitting $37.65. 56,045 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 86,300. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.02. RCI Hospitality has a 12-month low of $35.00 and a 12-month high of $61.66. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $45.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $333.84 million, a PE ratio of 67.23 and a beta of 1.45.

RCI Hospitality Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. RCI Hospitality’s payout ratio is 50.00%.

About RCI Hospitality

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.