Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 51,927 Shares of Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT - Free Report) by 23.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 272,822 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 51,927 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.61% of Brinker International worth $20,879,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Brinker International by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 37,120 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,844,000 after acquiring an additional 2,343 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its holdings in shares of Brinker International by 3.4% during the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 38,707 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,923,000 after purchasing an additional 1,264 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Brinker International by 6.6% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 87,423 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $4,343,000 after buying an additional 5,410 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Brinker International in the first quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Brinker International by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 20,640 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,025,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on EAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Brinker International from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Argus downgraded Brinker International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America lifted their target price on Brinker International from $97.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Brinker International from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered 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 report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $86.45.

Brinker International Trading Down 1.6 %

EAT stock traded down $1.91 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $116.74. 466,885 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,453,802. Brinker International, Inc. has a one year low of $34.77 and a one year high of $123.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 63.54, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a PE ratio of 28.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 2.46. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $88.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.93.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.26. Brinker International had a negative return on equity of 839.19% and a net margin of 4.11%. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. Brinker International's revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Brinker International, Inc. will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Michaela M. Ware sold 3,753 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.02, for a total transaction of $386,634.06. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,071 shares in the company, valued at $2,376,774.42. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.72% of the company's stock.

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.