Norges Bank Acquires New Shares in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)

Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 69,557 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $849,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Easterly Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 713,941 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $8,717,000 after acquiring an additional 37,784 shares during the period. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 50.2% in the fourth quarter. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC now owns 46,845 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $572,000 after purchasing an additional 15,666 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd raised its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 120.9% in the fourth quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 89,662 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 49,081 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 204,388 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,496,000 after purchasing an additional 42,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $356,000.

Insider Activity at Bloomin’ Brands

In other news, EVP Patrick M. Hafner sold 9,555 shares of Bloomin’ Brands stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.32, for a total value of $79,497.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on BLMN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Bloomin’ Brands from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bloomin’ Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Bloomin’ Brands from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $13.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.50.

Bloomin’ Brands Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BLMN opened at $7.05 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $9.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.17. Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $6.09 and a one year high of $27.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $598.76 million, a PE ratio of -64.09 and a beta of 1.76.

Bloomin’ Brands Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.51%. Bloomin’ Brands’s payout ratio is presently -40.27%.

About Bloomin’ Brands

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.