KeyCorp Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) Stock

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) had its target price hoisted by analysts at KeyCorp from $100.00 to $115.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. KeyCorp’s price target points to a potential upside of 11.38% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Brinker International from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $67.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group raised their price objective on Brinker International from $70.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Brinker International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $105.00 in a report on Thursday. Argus lowered Brinker International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Raymond James lowered Brinker International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Brinker International has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.14.

Brinker International Stock Performance

EAT stock traded down $1.00 during trading on Thursday, hitting $103.25. 1,686,809 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,452,699. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 19.96, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a PE ratio of 30.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 2.51. Brinker International has a 1 year low of $32.90 and a 1 year high of $107.15.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. Brinker International had a negative return on equity of 274.62% and a net margin of 3.52%. Brinker International’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.28 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Brinker International will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Brinker International

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in Brinker International during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Brinker International by 96.2% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 416 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brinker International in the first quarter worth approximately $47,000. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Brinker International in the first quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Brinker International by 32,500.0% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,304 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 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.