Stevens Capital Management LP Makes New $745,000 Investment in Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT)

Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,633 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $745,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Brinker International during the fourth quarter worth $81,888,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Brinker International by 2,612.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 588,594 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $77,865,000 after acquiring an additional 566,894 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its position in shares of Brinker International by 1,145.2% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 416,044 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $55,038,000 after acquiring an additional 382,633 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Brinker International by 4,710.3% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 280,824 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $37,150,000 after acquiring an additional 274,986 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Brinker International by 55.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 618,728 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $47,351,000 after purchasing an additional 219,836 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on EAT shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Brinker International from $150.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Northcoast Research raised Brinker International from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Brinker International from $162.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Brinker International from $108.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Brinker International from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $140.18.

Insider Transactions at Brinker International

In other Brinker International news, Director Cindy L. Davis sold 5,802 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.86, for a total value of $1,089,963.72. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,086,561.02. This trade represents a 34.31 % 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 the SEC website. Also, COO Douglas N. Comings sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.90, for a total transaction of $1,409,250.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 34,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,435,950.80. The trade was a 17.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,802 shares of company stock worth $3,752,464 in the last quarter. 1.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Brinker International Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of EAT opened at $144.93 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.12, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 2.56. Brinker International, Inc. has a 52 week low of $43.37 and a 52 week high of $192.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.96, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.33. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $155.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $124.16.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $1.43. Brinker International had a return on equity of 879.47% and a net margin of 5.45%. On average, analysts predict that Brinker International, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

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.