Strs Ohio Takes $701,000 Position in Brinker International, Inc. $EAT

Key Points

• Strs Ohio has acquired a new stake in Brinker International, Inc., purchasing 4,700 shares valued at approximately $701,000 in the first quarter.
• Multiple hedge funds recently made significant investments in Brinker, with total new positions exceeding $2 million, indicating growing interest among institutional investors.
• Wall Street analysts have raised their price targets for Brinker International, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $172.59.

Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,700 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $701,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Brinker International by 575.0% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 189 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new position in Brinker International in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Brinker International by 1,714.3% in the 1st quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in Brinker International by 227.3% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 252 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Brinker International during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $54,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on EAT shares. Barclays increased their target price on Brinker International from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. UBS Group increased their target price on Brinker International from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Brinker International from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $165.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Brinker International from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Brinker International from $155.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $173.18.

Brinker International Trading Down 2.4%

EAT traded down $3.31 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $135.40. The company had a trading volume of 81,543 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,462,597. The stock has a market cap of $6.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.29, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $155.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.26. Brinker International, Inc. has a 52 week low of $74.73 and a 52 week high of $192.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 13th. The restaurant operator reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.47 by $0.02. Brinker International had a return on equity of 211.86% and a net margin of 7.12%.The business had revenue of $1.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.61 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Brinker International has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.900-10.50 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Brinker International, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Brinker International

In other news, COO Douglas N. Comings sold 16,000 shares of Brinker International stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.48, for a total transaction of $2,503,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,026,572.48. This trade represents a 55.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Harriet Edelman sold 8,325 shares of Brinker International stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.00, for a total value of $1,307,025.00. Following the sale, the director owned 28,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,538,085. This trade represents a 22.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 68,325 shares of company stock worth $10,754,785. 1.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.