Short Interest in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) Rises By 9.3%

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,420,000 shares, an increase of 9.3% from the August 15th total of 8,620,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,690,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.6 days. Currently, 11.4% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BLMN. StockNews.com lowered shares of Bloomin’ Brands from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $30.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bloomin’ Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.33.

Bloomin’ Brands Stock Down 4.6 %

BLMN stock traded down $0.80 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $16.74. 1,393,587 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,475,721. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.46. Bloomin’ Brands has a 1 year low of $15.20 and a 1 year high of $30.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.16 and a beta of 2.05.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.07). Bloomin’ Brands had a return on equity of 61.90% and a net margin of 0.70%. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 earnings per share. Bloomin’ Brands’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bloomin’ Brands will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Bloomin’ Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.73%. Bloomin’ Brands’s payout ratio is currently 150.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bloomin’ Brands

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Bloomin’ Brands during the first quarter valued at $30,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 284,000.0% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,841 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 2,840 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 6,454.9% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 3,343 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 3,292 shares during the period. AdvisorShares Investments LLC lifted its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC now owns 5,014 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $141,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 5,314 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $150,000 after buying an additional 1,288 shares in 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.