Hennessy Advisors Inc. Invests $81.89 Million in Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 619,000 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $81,888,000. Brinker International accounts for 2.4% of Hennessy Advisors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned approximately 1.39% of Brinker International as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EAT. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its position in Brinker International by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 200 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Brinker International by 123.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 309 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Brinker International during the 2nd quarter valued at about $202,000. Burford Brothers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Brinker International in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $203,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Brinker International in the second quarter worth approximately $204,000.

Insider Activity at Brinker International

In other news, CFO Michaela M. Ware sold 3,753 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.02, for a total transaction of $386,634.06. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,071 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,376,774.42. This represents a 13.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on EAT. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Brinker International from $83.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Argus raised Brinker International from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $150.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Morgan Stanley raised Brinker International from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $70.00 to $115.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays raised their price objective on Brinker International from $95.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Brinker International from $62.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $108.29.

Brinker International Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE EAT traded up $0.63 during trading on Friday, reaching $144.17. 717,567 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 848,342. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $131.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $95.78. Brinker International, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.13 and a 12-month high of $147.65. The firm has a market cap of $6.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 2.52. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.26. Brinker International had a net margin of 4.11% and a negative return on equity of 839.19%. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. Brinker International's revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Brinker International, Inc. will post 5.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brinker International Company Profile

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.