69,237 Shares in Brinker International, Inc. $EAT Purchased by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama acquired a new position in shares of Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 69,237 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $13,399,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EAT. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Brinker International in the second quarter valued at about $91,237,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Brinker International in the second quarter valued at $39,687,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Brinker International by 63.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 413,472 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $69,463,000 after purchasing an additional 160,939 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Brinker International by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,729,477 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,130,552,000 after buying an additional 145,525 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Brinker International in the second quarter worth about $17,493,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on EAT shares. Mizuho upped their target price on Brinker International from $175.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Brinker International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Brinker International from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Raymond James Financial raised Brinker International from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $270.00 to $260.00 in a report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Brinker International from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brinker International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $249.80.

Brinker International Price Performance

NYSE EAT opened at $197.30 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $203.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.56. Brinker International, Inc. has a 52 week low of $111.61 and a 52 week high of $254.99. The stock has a market cap of $8.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The restaurant operator reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by $0.32. Brinker International had a return on equity of 125.65% and a net margin of 8.44%. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.17 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Brinker International, Inc. will post 13.58 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Brinker International

In other news, CEO Kevin Hochman sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.38, for a total value of $8,815,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 104,603 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,052,409.14. This represents a 27.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Daniel Fuller sold 1,909 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.54, for a total value of $484,007.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 30,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,651,076.58. The trade was a 5.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 132,386 shares of company stock worth $30,915,368 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Brinker International Profile

Brinker International, Inc. is a casual-dining restaurant company based in Dallas, Texas. It owns, operates and franchises restaurants under the Chili’s Grill & Bar and Maggiano’s Little Italy brands. Chili’s serves a broad menu of American and Tex-Mex-inspired dishes, including burgers, ribs and fajitas. Maggiano’s specializes in Italian-American cuisine, with dishes such as pasta and other classic entrées. The company traces its roots to 1975, when founder Norman Brinker opened the first Chili’s restaurant in Dallas.