Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) Price Target Raised to $97.00 at Piper Sandler

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) had its target price boosted by equities research analysts at Piper Sandler from $62.00 to $97.00 in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Piper Sandler’s target price suggests a potential downside of 11.66% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also commented on EAT. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Brinker International from $70.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Brinker International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $80.00 to $105.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank Of America (Bofa) upped their price objective on shares of Brinker International from $94.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Brinker International from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Brinker International from $97.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brinker International presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.45.

Brinker International Price Performance

Shares of EAT opened at $109.80 on Monday. Brinker International has a 1-year low of $33.24 and a 1-year high of $110.03. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $4.88 billion, a PE ratio of 26.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 2.46. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $81.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.78.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Brinker International will post 5.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Brinker International news, CFO Michaela M. Ware sold 3,753 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.02, for a total value of $386,634.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 23,071 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,376,774.42. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Brinker International

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EAT. Boston Partners raised its holdings in Brinker International by 231.8% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,583,239 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $78,602,000 after acquiring an additional 1,106,046 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Brinker International by 13,850.1% in the 2nd 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 period. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Brinker International by 31.7% in the 2nd 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. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Brinker International by 1,686.8% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 192,972 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $13,969,000 after buying an additional 182,172 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 177,011 shares during the period.

About Brinker International

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.