Topic: Growth Stocks

RUBY TUESDAY, INC. $7.97 – New York symbol RT

RUBY TUESDAY, INC. $7.97 (New York symbol RT; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (865-379-5700; www.rubytuesday.com; Shares outstanding: 63.8 million; Market cap: $508.5 million; No dividends paid) owns 742 casual dining restaurants in the U.S. Franchisees operate 43 outlets in the U.S. and 44 overseas.

In the three months ended November 30, 2011, Ruby Tuesday’s sales rose 5.9%, to $307.5 million from $290.5 million a year earlier. However, same-restaurant sales fell 4.2%, mostly due to stiff competition from other chains, many of which spent heavily on TV advertising.

Ruby Tuesday’s overall sales were helped by its new menu items and specials, including its lunch offer of soup, a salad bowl or garden bar, and garlic cheese biscuits starting at $5.99 to $6.99. Even so, the company lost $0.03 a share, compared to a profit of $0.07 a share a year earlier.

That’s partly because of costs related to its plan to convert underperforming restaurants to formats that it sees as better suited to the towns and cities in which they compete. Ruby Tuesday’s new concepts include Marlin & Ray’s seafood restaurants, Truffles, an upscale café, and Lime Fresh Mexican Grills.

The company’s long-term debt of $324.8 million is high, at 63.9% of its $508.5-million market cap. However, Ruby Tuesday is steadily paying down that debt. The stock trades at 13.3 times the $0.60 a share that the company is likely to earn in 2012.

Ruby Tuesday is a buy for aggressive investors.

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