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Should You Invest in the Pizza Stocks?

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Welcome to Episode #44 of the Zacks Market Edge Podcast.

Every week, host and Zacks stock strategist, Tracey Ryniec, will be joined by guests to discuss the hottest investing topics in stocks, bonds and ETFs and how it impacts your life.

In this episode, Tracey is joined by Eric Dutram, Editor of the Surprise Trader and the ETF investor, to discuss a topic near to both of their hearts: the pizza stocks.

There are worries that the consumer is pulling back on restaurant spending and that the restaurant stock rally is done.

But if you looked at the pizza stocks, you might think otherwise. They are nearly all trading at or near all time highs.

The pizza market is not very concentrated. It is mostly dominated by mom-and-pop operators with their local pizza parlor.

But there are 5 chains that dominate.

Yum’s Pizza Hut is the largest chain in the United States, with 15,000+ stores followed by Domino’s with over 11,000.

But the 6th largest chain, California Pizza Kitchen, has just 300 restaurants so the drop off after the top 5 is pretty dramatic.

That means there are growth possibilities there, but who will cash in?

1. The Big Guys: Pizza Hut (YUM - Free Report) , Domino’s (DPZ - Free Report) and Papa John’s (PZZA - Free Report)

2. The take-home king: Papa Murphy’s (FRSH - Free Report)

3. The small town favorite: Casey’s General Stores (CASY - Free Report)

Tracey and Eric discuss valuations of their favorite pizza stocks along with which stocks they think investors should be looking at for the next 12 months.

This isn’t the first time that Tracey and Eric have discussed the restaurant stocks.

See who they think is the “next” Chipotle.

But what else should you know about the pizza stocks? Check out this week’s podcast to find out.

Tracey Ryniec is the Value Stock Strategist for Zacks.com. She is also the Editor of the Insider Trader and Value Investor services. You can follow her on twitter at @TraceyRyniec and she also hosts the Zacks Market Edge Podcast on iTunes.