Bloomin’ Brands Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:BLMN)

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors bought 70,192 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 5,275% compared to the average daily volume of 1,306 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bloomin’ Brands

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BLMN. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in Bloomin’ Brands in the 3rd quarter worth about $41,325,000. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. bought a new position in Bloomin’ Brands during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,672,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 29.6% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,492,119 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $47,923,000 after purchasing an additional 569,855 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 2,520.7% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 468,507 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $9,009,000 after purchasing an additional 450,630 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,381,150 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $22,830,000 after purchasing an additional 356,456 shares during the period.

Bloomin’ Brands Stock Down 2.0 %

NASDAQ:BLMN opened at $11.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -108.72 and a beta of 1.95. Bloomin’ Brands has a fifty-two week low of $11.24 and a fifty-two week high of $30.13. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.18.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Bloomin’ Brands had a negative net margin of 0.12% and a positive return on equity of 62.18%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.44 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Bloomin’ Brands will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bloomin’ Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 25th. Bloomin’ Brands’s payout ratio is currently -872.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on BLMN shares. Bank of America cut their price objective on Bloomin’ Brands from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Raymond James lowered Bloomin’ Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bloomin’ Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.09.

About Bloomin’ Brands

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.