Piper Sandler Raises Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) Price Target to $97.00

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) had its target price lifted by equities research analysts at Piper Sandler from $62.00 to $97.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective points to a potential downside of 10.03% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on EAT. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Brinker International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Brinker International from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. KeyCorp upped their target price on Brinker International from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Brinker International from $69.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Brinker International in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Brinker International has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.45.

Brinker International Stock Performance

Brinker International stock traded up $2.89 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $107.81. 302,849 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,452,110. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 63.54, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.79 billion, a PE ratio of 26.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 2.46. Brinker International has a fifty-two week low of $33.24 and a fifty-two week high of $107.92.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) 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 business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Brinker International will post 5.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Michaela M. Ware sold 3,753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.02, for a total transaction of $386,634.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,376,774.42. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brinker International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Brinker International in the 1st quarter valued at $714,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Brinker International by 36.7% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 279,974 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $13,908,000 after buying an additional 75,225 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Brinker International by 2.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,535,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $275,004,000 after buying an additional 135,580 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in Brinker International by 231.8% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,583,239 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $78,602,000 after acquiring an additional 1,106,046 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Brinker International by 1,686.8% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 192,972 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $13,969,000 after acquiring an additional 182,172 shares during the last quarter.

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.