Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) Short Interest Update

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,960,000 shares, an increase of 9.3% from the March 15th total of 4,540,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,300,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.8 days. Currently, 5.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bloomin’ Brands

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Bloomin’ Brands during the third quarter worth about $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 683.2% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,261 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in Bloomin’ Brands during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Bloomin’ Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 31.9% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,303 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 557 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BLMN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Bloomin’ Brands from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $26.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Bloomin’ Brands from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Barclays increased their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Citigroup raised their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.90.

Bloomin’ Brands Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Bloomin’ Brands stock traded up $0.14 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $26.93. 555,364 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,291,344. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $27.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.59 and a beta of 2.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. Bloomin’ Brands has a twelve month low of $22.03 and a twelve month high of $30.13.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The restaurant operator reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. Bloomin’ Brands had a return on equity of 73.67% and a net margin of 5.30%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bloomin’ Brands will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bloomin’ Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 37.94%.

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.