Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) Given New $85.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) had its target price raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $50.00 to $85.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underweight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

EAT has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Brinker International from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of Brinker International in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Raymond James cut Brinker International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America raised Brinker International from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $63.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Brinker International from $62.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.62.

Brinker International Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Brinker International stock opened at $93.82 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 19.96, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.38. Brinker International has a fifty-two week low of $31.95 and a fifty-two week high of $94.96. The company has a market cap of $4.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 2.51.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) last released its quarterly 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). Brinker International had a negative return on equity of 274.62% and a net margin of 3.52%. The business had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.39 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Brinker International will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Brinker International

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Brinker International by 231.8% in the first 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 last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Brinker International by 13,850.1% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,057,416 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $76,546,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,836 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Brinker International by 31.7% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 942,510 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $68,228,000 after purchasing an additional 227,047 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $13,969,000 after purchasing an additional 182,172 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in shares of Brinker International by 1,160.2% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 192,268 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $13,918,000 after purchasing an additional 177,011 shares during the last quarter.

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.