Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $143.15 and last traded at $141.70, with a volume of 77191 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $139.81.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on EAT. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Brinker International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $80.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp raised their target price on Brinker International from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised Brinker International from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $95.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Brinker International from $62.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Brinker International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brinker International has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.28.

Brinker International Trading Up 2.3 %

The stock has a market cap of $6.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 2.52. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 63.54, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.32.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Brinker International, Inc. will post 5.43 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Michaela M. Ware sold 3,753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.02, for a total transaction of $386,634.06. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,071 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,376,774.42. The trade was a 13.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Brinker International by 123.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 309 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Brinker International by 1,265.2% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,884 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $136,000 after buying an additional 1,746 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Brinker International during the 2nd quarter worth about $202,000. Burford Brothers Inc. acquired a new position in Brinker International in the 3rd quarter valued at about $203,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new position in Brinker International in the 2nd quarter valued at about $204,000.

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.