Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) Trading Down 7.7% Following Analyst Downgrade

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) dropped 7.7% during mid-day trading on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $19.00 to $14.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Bloomin’ Brands traded as low as $13.91 and last traded at $13.99. Approximately 808,755 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 45% from the average daily volume of 1,481,034 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.15.

BLMN has been the topic of several other reports. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Citigroup reduced their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bloomin’ Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Raymond James lowered Bloomin’ Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bloomin’ Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.70.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bloomin’ Brands

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 0.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,553,719 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $49,105,000 after buying an additional 16,878 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,529,130 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $41,806,000 after acquiring an additional 147,895 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 29.6% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,492,119 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $47,923,000 after purchasing an additional 569,855 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. acquired a new position in Bloomin’ Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,672,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 4.4% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,411,200 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $23,327,000 after purchasing an additional 59,418 shares during the period.

Bloomin’ Brands Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -123.17 and a beta of 2.04. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $16.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.67.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Bloomin’ Brands had a net margin of 0.70% and a return on equity of 61.90%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Bloomin’ Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Monday, November 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.19%. Bloomin’ Brands’s payout ratio is -872.65%.

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.