10 Stocks on Jim Cramer’s Radar

7. Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:TXRH)

Number of Hedge Fund Holdings: 37

Casual dining restaurant firm Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:TXRH) crossed Jim Cramer’s radar as the CNBC TV host discussed beef prices. Its shares are down by 7% year-to-date amidst broader struggles faced by the restaurant industry. Stifel maintained a Hold rating and a $188 share price target for the stock in December. The financial firm pointed out that while Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:TXRH) was fighting historically high prices, the restaurant company was focused on a pricing strategy focused on providing customers with value. Stifel added that the pricing strategy, coupled with a customer value perception, could help the firm with same-store sales growth. Along with Stifel, Wells Fargo also shared its take on Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:TXRH) in December. Bumping the rating to Overweight and setting a $195 share price target, the bank outlined that the share price at the time of coverage provided an attractive entry point. Like the analysts, Cramer’s previous comments about Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:TXRH) have praised the firm’s pricing strategy. In this appearance, he discussed the firm in the context of the impact of beef prices on the restaurant industry:

“Oh it’s been terrible. And you take a look at some of the great restaurants. And here I’m speaking about Texas Roadhouse, which we own for the charitable trust. . .You, it’s every hard for them to make do in the sense of what they’re doing is they’re trying to do these very small price increases that are not covering the cost of the beef. So then they’re missing the quarter. But they don’t want to lose the traffic. And it accounts for a lot of the underperformance, of many of the restaurants. . .this is a tough story.”