Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) PT Raised to $50.00 at Evercore ISI

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) had its target price raised by analysts at Evercore ISI from $48.00 to $50.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “in-line” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price target points to a potential upside of 10.33% from the stock’s previous close.

EAT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Brinker International from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Brinker International from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Brinker International from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. StockNews.com lowered Brinker International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Brinker International from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brinker International currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.80.

Brinker International Price Performance

EAT traded up $1.25 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $45.32. 348,307 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,269,379. Brinker International has a fifty-two week low of $28.23 and a fifty-two week high of $51.72. The company has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.23, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 2.46. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.79.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. Brinker International had a negative return on equity of 113.41% and a net margin of 3.63%. On average, research analysts predict that Brinker International will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Brinker International news, CFO Joseph G. Taylor sold 24,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.97, for a total value of $1,086,610.11. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 56,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,548,045.17. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Brinker International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EAT. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Brinker International by 20.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 332,176 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,493,000 after buying an additional 56,192 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Brinker International by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,079 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $997,000 after purchasing an additional 1,205 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Brinker International by 63.9% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 31,428 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $993,000 after buying an additional 12,251 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Brinker International by 411.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 170,719 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,394,000 after purchasing an additional 137,354 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in Brinker International by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,694,269 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $211,472,000 after acquiring an additional 54,628 shares during the last quarter.

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.