Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) Short Interest Down 7.3% in September

Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 6,900,000 shares, a drop of 7.3% from the September 15th total of 7,440,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,610,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.3 days. Currently, 15.7% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Brinker International Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE:EAT traded down $1.49 on Thursday, reaching $89.27. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 753,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,445,180. Brinker International has a 12-month low of $31.95 and a 12-month high of $91.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 19.96. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $74.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.04. The firm has a market cap of $3.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 2.51.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The restaurant operator reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.04). Brinker International had a net margin of 3.52% and a negative return on equity of 274.62%. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Brinker International will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Brinker International

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brinker International in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Brinker International by 96.2% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 416 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brinker International in the first quarter valued at $47,000. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new stake in Brinker International in the 1st quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Brinker International by 32,500.0% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,304 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EAT. Raymond James lowered Brinker International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp raised Brinker International from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $72.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Brinker International in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Argus downgraded Brinker International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Brinker International from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.09.

Brinker International Company 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.