Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $141.14.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on EAT shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Brinker International from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Brinker International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating and set a $115.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Brinker International from $165.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Brinker International from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Northcoast Research upgraded Brinker International from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th.

Insider Activity at Brinker International

In related news, Director Ramona Hood sold 777 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.23, for a total value of $105,073.71. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,158,650.64. The trade was a 8.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Douglas N. Comings sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.10, for a total transaction of $1,253,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 26,752 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,470,259.20. This represents a 21.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Brinker International

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EAT. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Brinker International by 23.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 272,822 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $20,879,000 after acquiring an additional 51,927 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Brinker International by 123.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 309 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Brinker International by 136.8% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 49,031 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,486,000 after buying an additional 28,322 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Brinker International by 2,612.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 588,594 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $77,865,000 after buying an additional 566,894 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its stake in Brinker International by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 200 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period.

Brinker International Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Brinker International stock opened at $137.09 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.66. Brinker International has a 52-week low of $56.27 and a 52-week high of $192.22. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $144.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $140.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.96.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $2.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.18. Brinker International had a return on equity of 879.47% and a net margin of 5.45%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 27.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Brinker International will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Brinker International Company Profile

Brinker International, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the ownership, development, operation, and franchising of casual dining restaurants in the United States and internationally. It operates and franchises Chili's Grill & Bar and Maggiano's Little Italy restaurant brands.