Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) Stock Price

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) had its target price increased by Morgan Stanley from $9.00 to $10.00 in a report issued on Monday, July 14th, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 3.47% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on BLMN. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $13.00 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bloomin’ Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.75.

Bloomin’ Brands Price Performance

Shares of BLMN traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $9.67. 134,284 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,538,518. Bloomin’ Brands has a one year low of $6.09 and a one year high of $21.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38. The business has a 50-day moving average of $8.92 and a 200 day moving average of $9.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $820.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -321.06 and a beta of 1.32.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. Bloomin’ Brands had a negative net margin of 0.05% and a positive return on equity of 55.08%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.70 earnings per share. Bloomin’ Brands’s revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Bloomin’ Brands will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bloomin’ Brands

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of BLMN. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,414,415 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $17,270,000 after buying an additional 159,356 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Bloomin’ Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $2,882,000. AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 63,457.9% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 12,076 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 12,057 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP increased its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 639,481 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,808,000 after purchasing an additional 130,793 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,649,084 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $20,135,000 after purchasing an additional 18,525 shares during the period.

Bloomin’ Brands Company Profile

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.