Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) Price Target Raised to $170.00

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) had its target price lifted by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $155.00 to $170.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 9.42% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on EAT. Bank of America raised 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, October 31st. KeyCorp lowered shares of Brinker International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating and set a $115.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Brinker International from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $67.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Brinker International from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Brinker International from $143.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brinker International currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.29.

Brinker International Stock Performance

Shares of EAT stock opened at $155.36 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 63.54. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $135.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $100.11. Brinker International has a 52 week low of $39.39 and a 52 week high of $155.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.90 billion, a PE ratio of 37.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 2.52.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. Brinker International had a negative return on equity of 839.19% and a net margin of 4.11%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Brinker International will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Michaela M. Ware sold 3,753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,376,774.42. The trade was a 13.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brinker International

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EAT. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Brinker International by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 4,248 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $562,000 after acquiring an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR purchased a new position in shares of Brinker International during the fourth quarter valued at $661,000. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Brinker International during the fourth quarter valued at $410,000. Advisory Resource Group bought a new stake in shares of Brinker International in the fourth quarter valued at about $221,000. Finally, Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new stake in Brinker International in the fourth quarter worth about $940,000.

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.