Is Ruth’s Hospitality Group (NASDAQ: RUTH) Undervalued or Overvalued?

Today is Wednesday, February 20, 2019 and here’s your daily small cap valuation.

Ruth’s Hospitality Group (NASDAQ: RUTH) is a small-cap stock that could have a lot of potential. But it’s hard to value smaller companies like this. Conventional valuation metrics like price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, profit margin, and return on equity (ROE) may not be available for them.

To get a sense of Ruth’s Hospitality Group’s true valuation, let’s compare it to its industry peers — and to itself one year ago. We’ll look at four small cap valuation metrics…

Price-to-Book Value (P/B) Ratio

Ruth’s Hospitality Group’s price-to-book value (P/B) ratio of 8.489 is 88.77% higher than its industry average of 4.497. That’s not good. A high P/B ratio may indicate that there’s something wrong with the company’s balance sheet — or that the stock is trading for an unusually high price based on its balance sheet.

Free Cash Flow Yield (FCF/Enterprise Value)

Ruth’s Hospitality Group’s free cash flow yield (FCF/EV) of 0.055% is 14.58% higher than its industry average of 0.048%. That’s good. This metric compares free cash flow (the amount of cash left over after all expenses and capital expenditures have been paid) with enterprise value (a comprehensive alternative to market cap that includes cash and debt).

A high free cash flow yield indicates that a company is performing efficiently — and that it’s in a good position to repay any debt on its books.

Earnings per Share (EPS) Growth

Ruth’s Hospitality Group has grown its earnings per share (EPS) by 27.66% in the last year. That’s good. Many smaller, newer companies have negative earnings for a few years, but that’s okay as long as earnings are going up over time.

Gross Margin Growth

Ruth’s Hospitality Group has grown its gross margin by 10.93% in the last year. That’s good. Many young small caps are unprofitable, so net profit margin isn’t always a useful measure. But a growing gross margin means that the company’s operations are getting more and more profitable over time.

The Takeaway

Ruth’s Hospitality Group scored favorably on 3 of our 4 valuation metrics. With this in mind, we believe the stock is slightly undervalued.

We’ve been keeping an eye on a set of small-cap stocks that are a better value than Ruth’s Hospitality Group. These stocks have the potential for bigger gains — and they’re far less risky than the speculative small caps many investors gamble on. Enter your email below to learn more.

P.S. Got another small-cap stock you want us to test with our valuation metrics? Leave the ticker symbol in the comments below.