Restaurant stocks 'back in favor' -Piper Jaffray

Fiesta Restaurant

05/10/2018 16:05

** Restaurant stocks rise after Piper Jaffray's bullish note
on the group; says robust consumer confidence, rising wages and
employment gains likely to satisfy the unfulfilled demand for
eating out
    ** "The group can experience more than a 500 bps premium to
the S&P 500 during improving stages" - Piper analysts Nicole
Regan and Joshua Long 
    ** Group currently trading near parity with market, but
poised for multiple expansion - analysts 
    ** "A fundamentally improved supply/demand balance resulting
in improved sales performance and ongoing consolidation lend
valuation support" - Piper 
    ** BJ's Restaurants  BJRI.O  shares jump 2.2 pct after Piper
upgrades to "overweight" from "neutral", PT raise to $76 from
$75
    ** Fiesta Restaurant  FRGI.O  up ~9 pct, on pace to post
best day since May 8, after broker upgrades to "neutral" from
"underweight", ups PT to $28 from $24
    ** Lifts PTs on Habit Restaurants  HABT.O  to $16 from $13
and on Bojangles  BOJA.O  to $15 from $12; shares of HABT and
BOJA up ~4 pct
    ** S&P 600 Hotel Restaurants & Leisure index  .SPSMCHRL  up
over 22 pct YTD vs 8.4 pct gain for S&P 500  .SPX  

 (Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru)
 ((sruthi.shankar.reuters.com@reuters.net))