Wedbush Reaffirms “Neutral” Rating for Brinker International (NYSE:EAT)

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reissued by analysts at Wedbush in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $68.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock. Wedbush’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 7.94% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also commented on EAT. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Brinker International from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Raymond James lowered Brinker International from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $82.50 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Brinker International from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Brinker International from $62.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Brinker International from $51.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brinker International currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.32.

Brinker International Stock Down 10.5 %

NYSE:EAT opened at $63.00 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $67.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 2.52. Brinker International has a 12-month low of $28.23 and a 12-month high of $76.02.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The restaurant operator reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Brinker International had a negative return on equity of 154.29% and a net margin of 3.55%. Brinker International’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.39 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Brinker International will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Brinker International news, Director Prashant Ranade sold 1,100 shares of Brinker International stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.47, for a total transaction of $68,717.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,064,426.33. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Prashant Ranade sold 1,100 shares of Brinker International stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.47, for a total value of $68,717.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,064,426.33. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Douglas N. Comings sold 10,000 shares of Brinker International stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.31, for a total value of $683,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 38,164 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,606,982.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 17,664 shares of company stock valued at $1,216,601. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 worth $275,004,000 after acquiring an additional 135,580 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Brinker International by 231.8% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,583,239 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $78,602,000 after acquiring an additional 1,106,046 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Brinker International by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,503,198 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $64,908,000 after buying an additional 296,785 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Brinker International by 13,850.1% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,057,416 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $76,546,000 after buying an additional 1,049,836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Brinker International by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 936,283 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $40,430,000 after buying an additional 4,294 shares in 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.