Brinker price target raised to $55 from $50 at Stifel

Stifel analyst Chris O’Cull raised the firm’s price target on Brinker (EAT) to $55 from $50 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm evaluated year-over-year visitation performance for several restaurant chains and found mixed results among several major chains, the analyst tells investors. While the firm’s analysis confirmed comments recently made by McDonald’s (MCD) and Olive Garden’s (DRI) management teams, and the firm estimates that Starbucks (SBUX) is also seeing some challenges with lower-income consumers, several restaurant chains, ranging from Chipotle (CMG) to Chili’s, appear to be performing well among this income group, the analyst noted.