Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) Rating Increased to Buy at Argus

Argus upgraded shares of Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Argus currently has $150.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Brinker International from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $95.00 to $130.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Brinker International from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Brinker International from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Brinker International from $83.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Brinker International from $69.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brinker International has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.53.

Brinker International Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of EAT stock opened at $137.19 on Tuesday. Brinker International has a 1-year low of $37.25 and a 1-year high of $137.21. The firm has a market cap of $6.10 billion, a PE ratio of 33.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 2.51. The company has a 50-day moving average of $117.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 63.54, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.26.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.95 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Brinker International will post 5.43 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Brinker International

In other Brinker International news, CFO Michaela M. Ware sold 3,753 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now 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 transaction 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 Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EAT. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Brinker International by 23.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 272,822 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $20,879,000 after acquiring an additional 51,927 shares in the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Brinker International by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Brinker International in the 3rd quarter valued at about $286,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in Brinker International by 123.4% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 11,199 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $857,000 after buying an additional 6,185 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.