Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 22,100 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $954,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System owned 0.05% of Brinker International at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Brinker International by 68.9% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 946 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Brinker International by 3.8% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 13,408 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Brinker International by 100.0% in the third quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Brinker International by 6.5% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,155 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AdvisorShares Investments LLC raised its holdings in Brinker International by 30.2% in the third quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC now owns 3,501 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 813 shares in the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Joseph G. Taylor sold 24,163 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.97, for a total transaction of $1,086,610.11. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 56,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,548,045.17. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on EAT. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Brinker International from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Brinker International from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Brinker International from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Brinker International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Brinker International from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brinker International has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $44.19.

Brinker International Trading Up 1.4 %

Brinker International stock traded up $0.68 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $48.27. The company had a trading volume of 822,725 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,284,733. Brinker International, Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.23 and a 12-month high of $51.72. The company's fifty day moving average is $47.09 and its 200-day moving average is $41.40. The company has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 2.46.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.05. Brinker International had a negative return on equity of 113.41% and a net margin of 3.63%. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Brinker International, Inc. will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brinker International 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.