StockNews.com Upgrades Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) to “Hold”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Thursday.

BLMN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $19.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays lowered their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $30.00 to $22.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $18.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $27.00 to $20.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $22.33.

Bloomin’ Brands Price Performance

Bloomin’ Brands stock opened at $16.52 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.81 and a beta of 2.04. The business’s fifty day moving average is $17.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.77. Bloomin’ Brands has a 52 week low of $15.20 and a 52 week high of $30.13.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. Bloomin’ Brands had a return on equity of 61.90% and a net margin of 0.70%. Bloomin’ Brands’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Bloomin’ Brands will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bloomin’ Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.81%. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 150.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BLMN. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Bloomin’ Brands during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 284,000.0% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,841 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 2,840 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 6,454.9% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 3,343 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 3,292 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Bloomin’ Brands during the second quarter valued at approximately $111,000. Finally, AdvisorShares Investments LLC boosted its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC now owns 5,014 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $141,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter.

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.