Brinker international posts
FeedPosted May 18th 2009 10:30AM by Laurie Pasternack (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Brinker Intl (EAT), Allegheny Energy (AYE), AutoNation Inc (AN), Dean Foods (DF), Morgan Stanley (MS), Under Armour'A' (UA), Analyst initiations
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Analyst upgrades:
- Citigroup upgraded Lennar (NYSE: LEN) to Buy from Hold as it believes the company's near-term liquidity profile is improved following the $400M debt issuance. The firm raised its target price to $12 from $11.
- Jefferies upgraded Rowan Companies (NYSE: RDC) to Buy from Hold as it believes jack-up drillers will continue to outperform deepwater names. The firm raised its target price to $27 from $20.
- Keefe Bruyette upgraded First Financial (NASDAQ: FFIN) to Market Perform from Underperform to reflect more positive loan data for the Texas banks. The firm raised its target price on shares to $44 from $38.
- MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.
- Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at JMP Securities.
- Brinker (NYSE: EAT) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: LEN, RDC, FFIN, SII, AN, ACHN, UA, LULU, JST
Posted Apr 11th 2009 11:40AM by Trey Thoelcke (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports, Brinker Intl (EAT), Alcoa Inc (AA), Bed Bath and Beyond (BBBY), Family Dollar Stores (FDO), Research in Motion (RIMM), Morgan Stanley (MS), Wells Fargo (WFC)
Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:
Continue reading Earnings highlights: Family Dollar, Bed Bath & Beyond, Alcoa, Wells Fargo and more
Posted Apr 7th 2009 12:30PM by Brent Archer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Major movement, Earnings reports, Forecasts, Good news, Brinker Intl (EAT), Options, Technical Analysis
Brinker International (NYSE:
EAT -
option chain) shares are headed higher today after the company
forecast third-quarter earnings of 44 to 45 cents per share, well above analysts' estimates of 29 cents per share. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on EAT.
EAT opened this morning at $18.14. So far today the stock has hit a low of $16.93 and a high of $18.20. As of 11:25, EAT is trading at $17.20, up 0.95 (5.8%). The chart for EAT looks bearish and
S&P gives EAT a negative 2 STARS (out of 5) sell ranking.
Continue reading Brinker International (EAT) forecasts strong Q3 earnings
Posted Aug 25th 2008 1:25PM by Brent Archer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Major movement, Analyst reports, Bad news, Industry, Brinker Intl (EAT), Options, Technical Analysis
Brinker International (NYSE:
EAT -
option chain) shares are headed lower today. Last week,
an analyst expressed concerns about potential weakness in the casual dining sector due to families that may have stayed home to watch Olympic coverage rather than going out for dinner. Today, there is some weakness throughout the sector, on stocks like
Darden (NYSE:
DRI) and
Cheescake Factory (NASDAQ:
CAKE) as well. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on EAT.
This morning, EAT opened at $19.34. So far today the stock has hit a low of $18.87 and a high of $19.41. As of 12:15, EAT is trading at $18.95, down 62 cents (-3.2%). The chart for EAT looks neutral and
S&P gives EAT a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.
For a bearish hedged play on this stock, I would consider an
October bear-call credit spread above the $22.50 range. A bear-call credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of call options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make an 8.7% return in two months as long as EAT is below $22.50 at October expiration. Brinker would have to rise by more than 18% before we would start to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade
here.
EAT hasn't been above $22.50 since May and has shown resistance around $21 recently.
Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer.
DISCLOSURE: Mr. Archer owns and/or controls diversified portfolios of long and short stock and option positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in EAT, DRI, or CAKE. Posted Aug 19th 2008 10:23AM by Tom Taulli (RSS feed)
Filed under: Deals
One of my favorite restaurants is Romano's Macaroni Grill, which has a great ambiance and menu. Well, the private equity firm -- Golden Gate Capital – also likes the place. In fact, it has
agreed to pay $131.5 million for a majority stake. The current owner is
Brinker International Inc. (NYSE:
EAT), which is the operator of Chili's Grill & Bar, Maggiano's Little Italy and On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina.
Romano's has 226 locations across the U.S. But while they are high-quality, the fact remains that the current economic environment has had a dampening effect and in the prior quarter same-store sells fell 5.7%. Brinker has actually tried to sell the division for about a year. Interestingly enough, there will also be an impairment charge for $42 million to $47 million on the transaction.
Brinker will keep a 20% position. But the most important thing is that the company will get a nice slug of cash – which is certainly much desired nowadays.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook
and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements
. He also operates MergerBook.com.
Posted Jul 29th 2008 3:30PM by Jonathan Berr (RSS feed)
Filed under: Bad news, Consumer experience, Cheesecake Factory (CAKE), Recession
Benningan's, the casual dining chain where I had many bad dates, and Steak and Ale, a chain I never visited, have filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, underscoring how cash-strapped diners are not finding deals like unlimited breadsticks all that tempting.
The two chains, which are owned by billionaire John Kluge, have been in financial hot water for months, according to
The Wall Street Journal. The paper reports that the chains were so broke that they did not have enough money to pay their employees for the rest of the week.
"Metromedia Restaurant Group (Kluge's company) earlier this year violated several terms of a lending agreement with GE Capital Solutions," the
Journal reports. "It had been in negotiations with lenders for months to stave off the filing, while closing some stores and looking for a buyer, said two people involved in the matter."
Rising labor costs and soaring prices for food are killing casual dining chains.
Cheesecake Factory Inc. (NASDAQ:
CAKE) recently reported disappointing second quarter results, which featured the biggest drop in same store sales in the
dining chain's history. Last year,
activist investor Nelson Peltz acquired a 14% interest in the company.
Brinker International Inc. (NYSE:
EAT), owner of Chilli's Bar and Grill, and IHOP parent
DineEquity Inc. (NYSE:
DIN) are both down by double digits this year.
There is no hope for a turnaround in these companies anytime soon. Much like diners in these establishments, investors in these stocks are in for a world of indigestion.
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