Virtue Capital Management LLC Makes New $1.11 Million Investment in Brinker International, Inc. $EAT

Virtue Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 5,747 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EAT. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Brinker International by 18.0% in the second quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 63,795 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,718,000 after purchasing an additional 9,733 shares during the period. Callan Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Brinker International during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,258,000. Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda bought a new stake in Brinker International during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,710,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Brinker International by 37.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 242,648 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $34,643,000 after purchasing an additional 66,383 shares during the period. Finally, Cynosure Group LLC bought a new stake in Brinker International during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $766,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on EAT shares. Northcoast Research raised Brinker International from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $275.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective 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. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Brinker International from $166.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Brinker International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Brinker International from $270.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $249.80.

Brinker International Stock Performance

NYSE EAT opened at $210.86 on Tuesday. Brinker International, Inc. has a twelve month low of $100.30 and a twelve month high of $254.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $8.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.56, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $208.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.81.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The restaurant operator reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.17 EPS. Brinker International’s revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Brinker International, Inc. will post 13.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Brinker International

In other news, SVP James Butler sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.37, for a total value of $2,403,700.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 9,064 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,178,713.68. The trade was a 52.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Aaron White sold 16,220 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.22, for a total transaction of $3,831,488.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,099,822.32. The trade was a 27.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 213,694 shares of company stock valued at $50,383,890. Insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Brinker International Company Profile

Brinker International, Inc is a casual-dining restaurant company that owns, operates and franchises restaurants in the United States and select international markets. The company is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and serves customers through company-operated and franchised locations.

Brinker’s principal brands are Chili’s Grill & Bar and Maggiano’s Little Italy. Chili’s offers a broad menu of burgers, steaks, ribs, fajitas, Tex-Mex dishes, salads and beverages in a full-service, casual setting.