American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 1,522,370 Shares of Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)

American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) by 565.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,791,366 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,522,370 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Bloomin’ Brands were worth $21,873,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 52.9% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 31,390 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $383,000 after acquiring an additional 10,859 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 103.8% during the 4th quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 341,437 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,169,000 after purchasing an additional 173,942 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,649,084 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $20,135,000 after buying an additional 18,525 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP lifted its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 639,481 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $7,808,000 after buying an additional 130,793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 63,457.9% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 12,076 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $147,000 after buying an additional 12,057 shares during the period.

Insider Transactions at Bloomin’ Brands

In other news, EVP Patrick M. Hafner sold 9,555 shares of Bloomin’ Brands stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.32, for a total value of $79,497.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Bloomin’ Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Bloomin’ Brands stock opened at $7.41 on Monday. Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $7.37 and a 12 month high of $29.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $10.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.94. The firm has a market cap of $629.34 million, a P/E ratio of -67.36 and a beta of 2.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46.

Bloomin’ Brands Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.10%. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently -40.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLMN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Bloomin’ Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Bank of America cut Bloomin’ Brands from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $13.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.50.

Bloomin’ Brands Profile

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc engages in the acquisition, operation, design, and development of restaurant concepts. It operates through the U.S. and International geographical segments. The U.S. segment operates in the USA and Puerto Rico. The International segment operates in Brazil, South Korea, Hong Kong, and China.