Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund trimmed its position in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,314 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 2,758 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Bloomin’ Brands were worth $1,388,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,527,385 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $308,048,000 after buying an additional 175,493 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,411,410 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $34,707,000 after buying an additional 86,272 shares during the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 644,653 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $18,147,000 after buying an additional 39,270 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 520,451 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $12,798,000 after buying an additional 20,549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 364.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 494,338 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $12,156,000 after buying an additional 387,896 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Bloomin’ Brands Stock Down 0.2 %

BLMN stock opened at $26.93 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.34 billion, a PE ratio of 10.64, a PEG ratio of 10.40 and a beta of 2.00. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $27.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.07. Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $22.03 and a one year high of $30.13.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. Bloomin’ Brands had a net margin of 5.30% and a return on equity of 73.67%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current 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. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. Bloomin’ Brands’s payout ratio is presently 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.