Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) Stock

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) had its target price lifted by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $95.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “underweight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price suggests a potential downside of 9.47% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Brinker International from $76.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Brinker International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $105.00 in a report on Thursday. 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 report on Thursday. 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 report on Thursday. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Brinker International in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.19.

Brinker International Trading Up 2.2 %

Brinker International stock opened at $104.94 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 63.54. Brinker International has a 12 month low of $33.03 and a 12 month high of $107.15. The stock has a market cap of $4.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 2.51.

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 business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.28 EPS. Brinker International’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Brinker International will post 4.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Michaela M. Ware sold 3,753 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The shares were 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 owns 23,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,376,774.42. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in EAT. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Brinker International by 8.5% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 14,190 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $705,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Brinker International by 6.7% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 37,120 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,844,000 after acquiring an additional 2,343 shares during the period. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new stake in Brinker International in the first quarter valued at about $50,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its stake in Brinker International by 3.4% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 38,707 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,923,000 after acquiring an additional 1,264 shares during the period. Finally, Duality Advisers LP bought a new stake in Brinker International in the first quarter valued at about $323,000.

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.