Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) Shares Down 4.4%

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) shares dropped 4.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $16.92 and last traded at $16.98. Approximately 644,118 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 54% from the average daily volume of 1,396,036 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.76.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on BLMN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bloomin’ Brands has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.30.

Bloomin’ Brands Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.52 and a beta of 2.04. The business has a 50-day moving average of $20.78 and a 200-day moving average of $24.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.12, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.26.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. Bloomin’ Brands had a net margin of 1.56% and a return on equity of 65.73%. The business’s revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Bloomin’ Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.78%. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 150.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bloomin’ Brands

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BLMN. Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 21.3% during the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 50,181 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,234,000 after acquiring an additional 8,800 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,527,385 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $308,048,000 after buying an additional 175,493 shares in the last quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC now owns 29,531 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $831,000 after buying an additional 1,465 shares in the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in 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 worth $1,124,000 after acquiring an additional 869 shares during the last quarter.

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.