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Frisch's Restaurants (FRS)

Frisch's Restaurants reported higher earnings for its 12-week fiscal second quarter ended December 15, 2009. Net earnings for the quarter increased 6.9% to $2,369,217 compared to $2,215,787 last year. Diluted earnings per share increased to $.46 per share, from $.43 per share last year. Sales declined 1.7% to $67,898,586 from $69,093,061 in last year's second quarter.
Craig F. Maier, President and CEO, said, "Same store sales at our Big Boy Restaurants decreased a modest 0.4% in the second quarter. The sluggish economy and continuing high unemployment have driven down customer traffic in our restaurants."

Jan 20 · 12:42:00 PM · Source: Company Press Release
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by Rich Pike

Burger King Holdings Inc. (BKC)

Credit Suisse downgraded Burger King Holdings Inc. from Outperform to Neutral. Price target was lowered from $23 to $21.

Jan 20 · 12:38:00 PM · Source: Marketwatch.com
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by Rich Pike

Ruby Tuesday (RT)

Ruby Tuesday has established a new partnership with Penske Racing for the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series season. Ruby Tuesday will serve as primary sponsor for six races on the No. 22 Dodge driven by series standout Brad Keselowski.
The specific races where Ruby Tuesday will serve as primary sponsor of the car have yet to be determined, but the No. 22 Ruby Tuesday Dodge is expected to make its debut as primary sponsor at the Richmond International Raceway race on April 30. Ruby Tuesday will be an associate sponsor of the team for the remaining 2010 Nationwide Series races.

Jan 20 · 12:26:00 PM · Source: Company Press Release
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by Rich Pike

CKE Restaurants (CKR)

CKE Restaurants, the holding company for Carl's Jr. and Hardee's quick service restaurant brands, said last week Wednesday at a conference of stock analysts and investment bankers that company-owned same store sales were down.

Carl's Jr. restaurants earlier reported an 8.9% drop for December of stores open at least a year, while Hardee's stores were down 3.2%. Year to date same store sales of units opened at least a year fell for Carl's Jr. by 6 percent and Hardee's reporting a 0.7 percent slide.

No information on same store sales of its 3,147 franchises were released.
Andy Puzder, CKE's CEO said "It is not our brand at all. The reality is the market has shrunk," emphasizing that sales of competitors and the quick service sector as a whole have contracted.

Jan 19 · 1:16:00 PM · Source: BlueMauMau.com
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by Rich Pike

McDonald's (MCD)

Credit Suisse upgraded McDonald's from Neutral to Outperform. Price target was raised from $69 to $71.

Jan 19 · 12:44:00 PM · Source: Newratings.com
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by Rich Pike

Darden Restaurants (DRI)

Standpoint Research initiated coverage for Darden Restaurants with a recommendation of Buy. Their price target is $45.00.

Jan 19 · 12:27:00 PM · Source: StreetInsider.com
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by Rich Pike

Steak N Shake (SNS)

The Indianapolis Business Journal is reporting that Steak n Shake Co. CEO Sardar Biglari bought 1,000 shares of the Indianapolis-based burger chain last week in another big bet the company's shares are undervalued.

Biglari, 32, paid about $290,000 to buy the shares on Jan. 7 and Jan. 8, according to an SEC filing. Biglari now controls about 6 percent of the company's 1.4 million shares. His stake is worth more than $26 million.

The Texas hedge fund manager used a proxy fight to gain control of Indianapolis-based Steak n Shake in 2008, then halted restaurant expansion, cut costs and introduced aggressive promotions to revive the struggling chain. The moves helped the 75-year-old chain late last year snap a 14-quarter streak of declining same-store sales.
The moves also allowed Biglari to stockpile cash and turn Steak n Shake into a holding company for non-restaurant investments. He cut capital expenditures from an average of $55 million per year to just $5.8 million in 2009, electing to save cash for other investments.

The company in December offered to acquire the outstanding shares of Fremont Michigan Insuracorp Inc. and initiated a 1-for-20 reverse stock split to discourage short-term investors.

Jan 15 · 10:42:00 AM · Source: IBJ.com
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by Rich Pike

Ruth's Hospitality Group (RUTH)

Ruth's Hospitality Group announced today that it has set the terms for its previously announced common stock rights offering. Under the terms of the rights offering, the Company will distribute at no charge to the holders of its common stock as of 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on January 20, 2010 one transferable subscription right for each share of Company common stock then owned. Each subscription right will entitle the holder to purchase 0.579232 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.50 per share.

Jan 15 · 10:14:00 AM · Source: Company Press Release
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by Rich Pike

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