Short Interest in Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) Rises By 7.1%

Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) saw a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,410,000 shares, an increase of 7.1% from the December 15th total of 5,050,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,200,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.5 days. Approximately 12.4% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EAT. Raymond James downgraded Brinker International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Brinker International from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Brinker International from $108.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Brinker International from $120.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Brinker International from $83.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $108.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brinker International

In other Brinker International news, CFO Michaela M. Ware sold 3,753 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.02, for a total value 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 trade represents a 13.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brinker International

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Brinker International by 23.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 272,822 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $20,879,000 after purchasing an additional 51,927 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brinker International in the third quarter valued at about $5,330,000. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Brinker International by 399.9% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 24,102 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,845,000 after purchasing an additional 19,281 shares in the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Brinker International during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $941,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in Brinker International in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,273,000.

Brinker International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EAT traded up $0.63 during trading on Monday, hitting $144.17. 717,567 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 848,342. Brinker International has a 52-week low of $38.13 and a 52-week high of $147.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $131.34 and a 200 day moving average of $95.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 63.54, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $6.41 billion, a PE ratio of 35.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 2.52.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. Brinker International had a net margin of 4.11% and a negative return on equity of 839.19%. The company’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Brinker International will post 5.91 EPS for the current year.

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.