Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) Stock Price

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) had its price objective hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $95.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an underweight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on EAT. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Brinker International from $70.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Bank Of America (Bofa) boosted their target price on shares of Brinker International from $94.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Raymond James lowered shares of Brinker International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Brinker International from $83.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Argus lowered shares of Brinker International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.19.

Brinker International Stock Performance

EAT stock opened at $102.71 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 63.54, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $4.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 2.51. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.33. Brinker International has a 52 week low of $32.90 and a 52 week high of $107.15.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Brinker International will post 4.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EAT. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Brinker International by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 14,190 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $705,000 after buying an additional 1,111 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Brinker International by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 37,120 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,844,000 after buying an additional 2,343 shares in the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new position in Brinker International during the 1st quarter worth about $50,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its position in Brinker International by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 38,707 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,923,000 after purchasing an additional 1,264 shares during the period. Finally, Duality Advisers LP acquired a new position in Brinker International during the 1st quarter valued at about $323,000.

Brinker International Company Profile

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.