Smith Group Asset Management LLC Has $1.17 Million Holdings in Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT)

Smith Group Asset Management LLC cut its stake in Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) by 23.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,822 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 2,772 shares during the period. Smith Group Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Brinker International were worth $1,167,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in Brinker International by 26.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 7,378 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 1,557 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Brinker International during the second quarter worth $202,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Brinker International by 4.5% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 23,765 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,720,000 after acquiring an additional 1,025 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Brinker International during the second quarter valued at $204,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in Brinker International in the second quarter worth about $322,000.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brinker International

In related news, CFO Michaela M. Ware sold 3,753 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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. 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. Company insiders own 1.72% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Brinker International from $143.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James downgraded Brinker International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Brinker International from $108.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Brinker International from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $67.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, KeyCorp cut Brinker International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating and set a $115.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, January 24th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.29.

Brinker International Stock Performance

EAT opened at $155.36 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 2.52. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $135.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.11. Brinker International, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.39 and a 1 year high of $155.55. 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) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $1.43. Brinker International had a negative return on equity of 839.19% and a net margin of 4.11%. Equities analysts expect that Brinker International, Inc. will post 5.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brinker International 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.