Based on the aggregated intelligence of 170,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, full-service restaurant operator DineEquity
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at DineEquity's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
DineEquity facts
| Headquarters (Founded) | Glendale, Calif. (1976) |
| Market Cap | $1.01 billion |
| Industry | Restaurants |
| Trailing-12-Month Revenue | $1.33 billion |
| Management |
Chairman/CEO Julia Stewart CFO John Tierney |
| Return on Capital (Average, Past 3 Years) | 6.9% |
| Cash/Debt | $102.3 million / $2.02 billion |
| Competitors |
Brinker International |
Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.
On CAPS, 60% of the 237 members who have rated DineEquity believe the stock will underperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bears include All-Stars TDRH and JakilaTheHun, both of whom are ranked in the top 0.1% of our community.
This week, TDRH tapped DineEquity as an unsatisfying selection:
Can you make money giving away free pancakes? That said, higher gasoline prices are a direct tax from consumer discretionary income. Market is saturated, can see no silver lining in this valuation.
In fact, DineEquity's three-year average return on capital of 6.9% is much lower than that of other restaurant stocks like Brinker (10.1%), McDonald's
CAPS All-Star JakilaTheHun elaborates on the bear case:
Poorly run, high debt load, high interest rates, declining revenue base, not terribly profitable over the past few years, rising food prices, and aggressive valuation all coalesce to convince me to red thumb DineEquity. The transformation of Applebee's and IHOP are the biggest factors here; I remember going to IHOP in 2005 and I also remember going to IHOP in the past year. I'm not impressed by the direction. You can't even get a burger without bacon any more (which seems bizarre; especially since some people who eat beef might have prohibitions against eating pork).
But the high debt load and aggressive valuation come into play with the declining quality. ... Don't see how this could be worth more than $40.
What do you think about DineEquity, or any other stock for that matter? If you want to retire rich, you need to protect your portfolio from any undue risk. Staying away from dangerous stocks is crucial to securing your financial future, and on Motley Fool CAPS, thousands of investors are working every day to flag them. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!
