Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) had its price objective lifted by Barclays from $95.00 to $143.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

EAT has been the topic of several other reports. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Brinker International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $80.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Argus upgraded shares of Brinker International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Brinker International from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Brinker International from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $70.00 to $115.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Brinker International from $108.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.53.

Brinker International Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE:EAT opened at $136.84 on Tuesday. Brinker International has a 1-year low of $37.25 and a 1-year high of $142.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 63.54, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $6.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 2.52. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $126.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.08.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.26. Brinker International had a net margin of 4.11% and a negative return on equity of 839.19%. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Brinker International will post 5.43 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Michaela M. Ware sold 3,753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.02, for a total value of $386,634.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,376,774.42. The trade was a 13.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Brinker International

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EAT. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Brinker International by 13,850.1% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,057,416 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $76,546,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,836 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Brinker International by 31.7% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 942,510 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $68,228,000 after buying an additional 227,047 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Brinker International by 55.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 618,728 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $47,351,000 after acquiring an additional 219,836 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Brinker International in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $14,611,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in Brinker International by 1,160.2% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 192,268 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $13,918,000 after acquiring an additional 177,011 shares during the last quarter.

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.