Stephens Reaffirms “Overweight” Rating for Brinker International (NYSE:EAT)

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reiterated by stock analysts at Stephens in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $300.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock. Stephens’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 45.09% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on EAT. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Brinker International from $166.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Brinker International from $204.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. UBS Group upped their target price on Brinker International from $190.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Citigroup upped their target price on Brinker International from $227.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Brinker International in a report on Friday, September 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brinker International has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.38.

Brinker International Price Performance

EAT stock traded down $4.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $206.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 878,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,187,585. The stock has a market cap of $8.63 billion, a PE ratio of 18.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Brinker International has a fifty-two week low of $100.30 and a fifty-two week high of $254.99. The company’s 50 day moving average is $218.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.47.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The restaurant operator reported $3.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.09 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. Brinker International had a net margin of 8.39% and a return on equity of 122.35%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.30 EPS. Brinker International has set its FY 2027 guidance at 12.600-13.400 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Brinker International will post 13.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brinker International

In other news, SVP James Butler sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.37, for a total transaction of $2,403,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 9,064 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,178,713.68. This represents a 52.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph DePinto sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.39, for a total value of $5,759,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 77,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,927,106.68. This represents a 24.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 173,694 shares of company stock worth $41,568,690. Insiders own 1.43% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brinker International

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Brinker International by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,729,477 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,130,552,000 after purchasing an additional 145,525 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Brinker International by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,748,760 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $293,786,000 after purchasing an additional 59,120 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Brinker International by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,170,612 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $167,128,000 after purchasing an additional 9,692 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Brinker International by 667.5% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,142,263 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $163,938,000 after purchasing an additional 993,435 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Brinker International by 96.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,137,863 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $163,306,000 after purchasing an additional 558,799 shares during the period.

About Brinker International

Brinker International, Inc is a Dallas-based restaurant company that owns, operates and franchises casual dining restaurants. Its portfolio includes Chili’s Grill & Bar, a full-service restaurant brand known for burgers, fajitas, ribs, steaks, Tex-Mex dishes and a broad beverage menu, and Maggiano’s Little Italy, which specializes in Italian-American cuisine and family-style dining.

Chili’s restaurants serve a wide range of lunch and dinner offerings in a casual, bar-and-grill setting, while Maggiano’s locations offer traditional Italian dishes, including pasta, chicken, seafood and desserts.