Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Grows Stock Position in Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 22,400 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Brinker International were worth $1,622,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of EAT. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in Brinker International during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Brinker International by 64,800.0% during the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 649 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Brinker International by 3,611.1% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 668 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Brinker International by 96.2% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 416 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Brinker International during the 1st quarter valued at about $47,000.

Brinker International Stock Up 3.7 %

Shares of NYSE EAT opened at $71.13 on Friday. Brinker International, Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.23 and a twelve month high of $76.02. The firm has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.11, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 2.52. The company has a 50 day moving average of $67.35 and a 200 day moving average of $58.04.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 14th. The restaurant operator reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. Brinker International had a negative return on equity of 154.29% and a net margin of 3.55%. Brinker International’s revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.39 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Brinker International, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on EAT shares. Raymond James cut Brinker International from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $82.50 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Brinker International from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Brinker International in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Brinker International from $48.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Brinker International from $62.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brinker International

In other Brinker International news, COO Douglas N. Comings sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.31, for a total transaction of $683,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 38,164 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,606,982.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Brinker International news, COO Douglas N. Comings sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.31, for a total transaction of $683,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 38,164 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,606,982.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Daniel S. Fuller sold 3,611 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.04, for a total transaction of $249,303.44. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 34,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,400,106.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,564 shares of company stock worth $1,147,884. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

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.