Stifel Nicolaus Increases Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) Price Target to $62.00

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) had its target price upped by Stifel Nicolaus from $55.00 to $62.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on EAT. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Brinker International from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Gordon Haskett raised Brinker International from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Brinker International from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Brinker International from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Brinker International from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Brinker International has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $46.06.

Brinker International Stock Performance

Shares of Brinker International stock opened at $54.98 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.42. The company has a fifty day moving average of $47.99 and a 200-day moving average of $42.32. Brinker International has a 52-week low of $28.23 and a 52-week high of $56.30.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.09. Brinker International had a net margin of 3.55% and a negative return on equity of 154.29%. The business had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Brinker International will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Brinker International by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,694,269 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $211,472,000 after buying an additional 54,628 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Brinker International by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,399,920 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $233,169,000 after acquiring an additional 30,861 shares during the period. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC purchased a new position in Brinker International in the third quarter worth about $57,246,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Brinker International by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,503,198 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $64,908,000 after purchasing an additional 296,785 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Brinker International by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 936,283 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $40,430,000 after purchasing an additional 4,294 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.