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

Shares of Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the eighteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $86.45.

EAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Brinker International from $70.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Brinker International in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Brinker International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays boosted their price target on Brinker International from $76.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Brinker International from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th.

Brinker International Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:EAT opened at $117.45 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $89.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 63.54. Brinker International has a 12-month low of $34.77 and a 12-month high of $123.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 2.46.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) last issued 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 negative return on equity of 839.19% and a net margin of 4.11%. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Brinker International will post 5.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Brinker International

In other Brinker International news, CFO Michaela M. Ware sold 3,753 shares of Brinker International stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.02, for a total transaction 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 approximately $2,376,774.42. This trade represents a 13.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brinker International

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EAT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Brinker International by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,535,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $275,004,000 after purchasing an additional 135,580 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Brinker International by 231.8% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,583,239 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $78,602,000 after buying an additional 1,106,046 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Brinker International by 13,850.1% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,057,416 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $76,546,000 after buying an additional 1,049,836 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Brinker International by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 998,278 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $76,413,000 after buying an additional 8,105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Brinker International by 31.7% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 942,510 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $68,228,000 after acquiring an additional 227,047 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.