Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 3,028,624 Shares of Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) by 97.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 71,788 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 3,028,624 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.08% of Bloomin’ Brands worth $1,380,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Bloomin’ Brands in the first quarter valued at $30,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 3,292 shares during the period. AdvisorShares Investments LLC raised its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC now owns 5,014 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $141,000 after buying an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Bloomin’ Brands in the first quarter worth about $219,000. Finally, Duality Advisers LP purchased a new stake in Bloomin’ Brands in the first quarter worth about $225,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on BLMN shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Bloomin’ Brands from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $27.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $30.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.33.

Bloomin’ Brands Trading Up 3.6 %

BLMN opened at $16.52 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.81 and a beta of 2.04. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.20 and a 52 week high of $30.13. The business’s 50 day moving average is $17.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.88.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Bloomin’ Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.81%. Bloomin’ Brands’s payout ratio is 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.