Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $27.30.

A number of brokerages recently commented on BLMN. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Barclays dropped their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bloomin’ Brands

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 21.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 50,181 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,234,000 after buying an additional 8,800 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 1.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,527,385 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $308,048,000 after purchasing an additional 175,493 shares in the last quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC now owns 29,531 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $831,000 after purchasing an additional 1,465 shares during the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 53,635 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,510,000 after purchasing an additional 3,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 39,926 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,124,000 after purchasing an additional 869 shares during the last quarter.

Bloomin’ Brands Stock Performance

BLMN opened at $16.33 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.12. The stock has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.52 and a beta of 2.04. Bloomin’ Brands has a 12-month low of $16.20 and a 12-month high of $30.13. The business has a 50 day moving average of $20.78 and a 200-day moving average of $24.96.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.05). Bloomin’ Brands had a net margin of 1.56% and a return on equity of 65.73%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Bloomin’ Brands will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Bloomin’ Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. Bloomin’ Brands’s payout ratio is currently 150.00%.

Bloomin’ Brands Company Profile

Bloomin' Brands, Inc, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates casual, upscale casual, and fine dining restaurants in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, U.S. and International. Its restaurant portfolio has four concepts, including Outback Steakhouse, a casual steakhouse restaurant; Carrabba's Italian Grill, a casual Italian restaurant; Bonefish Grill; and Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, a contemporary steakhouse.