R Squared Ltd Buys Shares of 630 Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT)

R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 630 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $83,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EAT. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Brinker International by 23.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 272,822 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $20,879,000 after buying an additional 51,927 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Brinker International during the third quarter valued at $5,330,000. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Brinker International by 399.9% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 24,102 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,845,000 after acquiring an additional 19,281 shares during the period. Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Brinker International during the 3rd quarter valued at about $941,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brinker International in the third quarter worth approximately $2,273,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EAT has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Brinker International from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Brinker International from $62.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Raymond James lowered shares of Brinker International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Brinker International from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, KeyCorp cut shares of Brinker International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating and set a $115.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $135.48.

Brinker International Price Performance

Brinker International stock opened at $182.37 on Friday. Brinker International, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.50 and a 52-week high of $184.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 63.54. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $138.17 and its 200 day moving average is $101.23. The company has a market cap of $8.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.48, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 2.52.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $1.43. Brinker International had a net margin of 4.11% and a negative return on equity of 839.19%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Brinker International, Inc. will post 5.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.