Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) Receives Average Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) have received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the eleven analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $14.60.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America downgraded Bloomin’ Brands from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $18.00 to $13.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays set a $11.00 target price on Bloomin’ Brands and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Bloomin’ Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th.

Bloomin’ Brands Stock Down 4.3 %

Shares of Bloomin’ Brands stock opened at $8.18 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $11.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.50. 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 has a twelve month low of $8.00 and a twelve month high of $29.10. The stock has a market cap of $694.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -74.36 and a beta of 2.04.

Bloomin’ Brands Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.33%. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently -40.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Bloomin’ Brands

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in Bloomin’ Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,519,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP bought a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,552,000. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 160.9% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 401,697 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,905,000 after acquiring an additional 247,702 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming raised its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 99.5% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 10,319 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 5,146 shares in the last quarter.

Bloomin’ Brands Company 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.