Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $16.00 to $13.00. The stock had previously closed at $12.62, but opened at $12.18. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Bloomin’ Brands shares last traded at $12.71, with a volume of 153,785 shares.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Bank of America decreased their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Bloomin’ Brands in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “sell” rating and a $13.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James cut shares of Bloomin’ Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $13.00 price target (down from $19.00) on shares of Bloomin’ Brands in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Bloomin’ Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.90.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bloomin’ Brands

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,381,150 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $22,830,000 after acquiring an additional 356,456 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 29.6% during 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 period. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 219,080 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,621,000 after purchasing an additional 49,723 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 58.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 691,585 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $11,432,000 after buying an additional 254,570 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,529,130 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $41,806,000 after buying an additional 147,895 shares during the last quarter.

Bloomin’ Brands Trading Down 5.9 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a PE ratio of -107.90 and a beta of 1.97. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $13.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.31.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Bloomin’ Brands had a positive return on equity of 62.18% and a negative net margin of 0.12%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.44 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. will post 1.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bloomin’ Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 25th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 25th. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently -872.73%.

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.