Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) Short Interest Down 6.5% in October

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,540,000 shares, a drop of 6.5% from the October 15th total of 8,060,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,510,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.0 days. Currently, 9.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America cut their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $27.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.70.

Institutional Trading of Bloomin’ Brands

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $49,105,000 after purchasing an additional 16,878 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake 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 last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the 3rd quarter worth $41,325,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 29.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 569,855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,672,000.

Bloomin’ Brands Price Performance

Shares of Bloomin’ Brands stock traded down $0.24 on Monday, hitting $12.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 58,550 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,511,253. The company has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -120.91 and a beta of 2.04. Bloomin’ Brands has a 1 year low of $12.95 and a 1 year high of $30.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $16.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.31.

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

Bloomin’ Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Monday, November 25th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.41%. Bloomin’ Brands’s payout ratio is presently -872.73%.

About Bloomin’ Brands

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.