Brinker International, based in Dallas, is a leading casual restaurant operator. The company owns or franchises more than 1,600 restaurants under the Chili's Grill & Bar and Maggiano's Little Italy brand names and has about 68,000 employees. It operates in the United States and 28 other countries and two U.S. territories. In 2020, Brinker launched virtual brand, It's Just Wings, which operates out of 1,000 company-owned Chili's and Maggiano's. It's Just Wings is only available for pickup or delivery.

Insider sentiment continues to improve, in keeping with the trend over the past several weeks and with multiple sentiment indicators from Vickers Stock Research taking part. Vickers' overall Insider Index, which had deteriorated steadily from late 2023 through mid-2024, has now logged numerous weeks of improvement, coming in at -17.10 this week versus -17.32 last week, -17.53 the week before that, and versus a low of -20.98 in early August. While the index is still far from the reading of -7.79 recorded in November 2023 (just as the market began a notable rally), it still signals a positive change in mindset from insiders. Elsewhere, Vickers' Total One-Week Sell/Buy Ratio has improved to 3.82 from last week's reading of 5.06, while the Total eight-week reading has improved to 3.80 from last week's 4.02 -- reflecting an increase in buying activity among insiders. The current Total readings also represent alignment among shorter- and longer-term sentiment, with the one- and eight-week ratios almost identical. With these readings comfortably within our neutral zone of 2.00 to 6.00, we will be watching to see if sentiment continues to improve in the weeks before insiders are again heavily restricted from trading stocks due to the start of earnings season. On a sector basis, insider buying outpaced selling in the Real Estate sector, with shares valued at more than $20 million purchased versus roughly $400,000 sold. On the flipside, selling by insiders was notable in Consumer Staples and Energy, with shares valued at $460 million and $198 million, respectively, sold. Selling was also evident in the Industrials, Financial, Healthcare, and Communication Services. This week, analysts at Vickers highlighted insider transactions of interest at Broadcom Inc. (NGS: AVGO) and Nvidia Corp. (NGS: NVDA).

The second quarter of 2024 was rewarding for equity investors, as the S&P 500 increased another 4% and has gained almost 15% year to date. Growth was the segment leader in 2Q, as the S&P 500 Growth Index advanced approximately 8% in the period while the S&P 500 Value Index declined slightly. Leading sectors included Information Technology and Communication Services, while sectors in the red for the past three months included Real Estate, Materials, Industrials, Financial, and Energy. The average stock in the Argus Universe of Coverage declined 2.4% during the quarter, while the median stock dropped 3.0%. The average BUY-rated stock declined 0.7%, while the average HOLD-rated stock gained 6.7%. Will the rally broaden in 2H24, or will investors keep focusing on Tech and Communications groups? Will small-caps pick up their pace (the Russell 2000 was up 1.8% in 1H24), or is the current bull market rally due for a break, with some profit-taking coming into play? Given declining interest rates, we expect growth stocks to continue to carry the bull market, while the risk of recession puts a premium on clean balance sheets, which are also more prevalent among large-caps. Investors seeking value are encouraged to focus on dividends and look for yields in the 3-4% range. Here are the top 10 performers from the Argus Universe last quarter, including, somewhat surprisingly, representatives of five of the 11 major sectors, as well as the five worst performers.

Brinker International, based in Dallas, is a leading casual restaurant operator. The company owns or franchises more than 1,650 restaurants under the Chili's Grill & Bar and Maggiano's Little Italy brand names and has about 64,000 employees. Brinker also holds a minority stake in Romano's Macaroni Grill. The shares are included in the S&P MidCap 400.