Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) Hits New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after Piper Sandler raised their price target on the stock from $62.00 to $97.00. Piper Sandler currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Brinker International traded as high as $107.18 and last traded at $107.01, with a volume of 96339 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $104.92.

EAT has been the topic of a number of other reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Brinker International from $70.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Brinker International from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Brinker International from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Brinker International from $69.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Brinker International from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $67.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $86.45.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Michaela M. Ware sold 3,753 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.02, for a total value of $386,634.06. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 23,071 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,376,774.42. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EAT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Brinker International by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,535,500 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $275,004,000 after acquiring an additional 135,580 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in Brinker International by 231.8% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,583,239 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $78,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106,046 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Brinker International by 13,850.1% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,057,416 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $76,546,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,836 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Brinker International by 31.7% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 942,510 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $68,228,000 after acquiring an additional 227,047 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Brinker International by 15.9% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 295,700 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $21,406,000 after acquiring an additional 40,500 shares during the period.

Brinker International Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.28, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 2.46. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $81.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 63.54, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. Brinker International had a negative return on equity of 839.19% and a net margin of 4.11%. Brinker International's revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.28 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Brinker International, Inc. will post 5.6 EPS for the current 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.