Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Increases Position in Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) by 136.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,031 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 28,322 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Brinker International were worth $6,486,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Brinker International by 123.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 309 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in Brinker International by 1,265.2% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,884 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $136,000 after acquiring an additional 1,746 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Brinker International in the second quarter valued at about $202,000. Burford Brothers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Brinker International in the third quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Brinker International during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $204,000.

Insider Transactions at Brinker International

In other news, CFO Michaela M. Ware sold 3,753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.02, for a total transaction of $386,634.06. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,376,774.42. The trade was a 13.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.72% of the company’s stock.

Brinker International Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE EAT opened at $138.66 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.82, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 2.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 63.54, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.32. Brinker International, Inc. has a one year low of $37.25 and a one year high of $142.47. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $127.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.74.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) last posted its 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. Brinker International had a net margin of 4.11% and a negative return on equity of 839.19%. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Brinker International, Inc. will post 5.43 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on EAT. Bank of America increased their target price on Brinker International from $97.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Brinker International from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Brinker International from $120.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Brinker International from $95.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Brinker International from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.28.

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.