43,400 Shares in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) Bought by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 43,400 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,222,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 683.2% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,261 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in Bloomin’ Brands during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 54.8% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,460 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 1,225 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 23.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 4,026 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 765 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 221.2% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,147 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 2,856 shares during the period.

Bloomin’ Brands Trading Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ BLMN opened at $26.81 on Tuesday. Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $22.03 and a one year high of $30.13. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.33 billion, a PE ratio of 10.60 and a beta of 2.00.

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

Bloomin’ Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. Bloomin’ Brands’s payout ratio is 37.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. 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 raised their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of 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 price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.90.

Bloomin’ Brands 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.