As Travel Data Shows Improvement, Piper Jaffray Favors MRT, RUTH, And PFCB

Piper Jaffray reports that travel data showed continued improvement in November “which we highlight as a positive update for those concepts benefiting from our ‘high-end' consumer recovery thesis.”

“Steadily improving, highly-correlated industry metrics remain in positive territory,” Piper Jaffray writes. “We believe these results suggest that recent strength in same-store sales for our higher-end covered restaurant names may have continued into early December.”

Piper Jaffray said that it views exposure to Morton's Restaurant Group, Inc. (NYSE: MRT), Ruth's Hospitality Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: RUTH), and P.F.Chang's China Bistro, Inc. (NASDAQ: PFCB) as the best way to capitalize on improving travel trends, “particularly as we head into the holiday season.”

Morton's Restaurant Group, Inc. (NYSE: MRT) closed Friday at $6.60; P.F.Chang's China Bistro, Inc. (NASDAQ: PFCB) closed at $52.86; and Ruth's Hospitality Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: RUTH) closed at $4.98.