Morgan Stanley Increases Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) Price Target to $39.00

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) had its target price upped by Morgan Stanley from $36.00 to $39.00 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Brinker International from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Brinker International from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Brinker International from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Brinker International from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Brinker International from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $43.00.

Brinker International Trading Down 0.5 %

EAT stock opened at $45.01 on Friday. Brinker International has a 12 month low of $28.23 and a 12 month high of $51.72. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $46.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.67. The stock has a market cap of $1.99 billion, a PE ratio of 13.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 2.46.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. Brinker International had a net margin of 3.63% and a negative return on equity of 113.41%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Brinker International will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Joseph G. Taylor sold 24,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.97, for a total transaction of $1,086,610.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 56,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,548,045.17. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EAT. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC acquired a new position in Brinker International during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $57,246,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its stake in Brinker International by 2,694.9% during the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 761,011 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $29,040,000 after purchasing an additional 733,782 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Brinker International by 86.0% during the 1st quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,389,928 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $52,817,000 after purchasing an additional 642,666 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP increased its stake in Brinker International by 32.1% during the 2nd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,451,624 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $89,729,000 after purchasing an additional 595,818 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners acquired a new position in Brinker International during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $20,401,000.

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.