Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) Stock

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) had its price objective raised by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $9.00 to $10.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, July 14th, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target points to a potential upside of 6.76% from the stock’s current price.

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

Bloomin’ Brands Stock Down 1.9%

Bloomin’ Brands stock opened at $9.37 on Monday. Bloomin’ Brands has a fifty-two week low of $6.09 and a fifty-two week high of $21.45. The company has a market capitalization of $795.54 million, a PE ratio of -313.06 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $8.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.23.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Bloomin’ Brands will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bloomin’ Brands

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 123.1% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,299,778 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,489,000 after buying an additional 1,268,988 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 385.6% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,817,145 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $22,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,442,964 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 565.9% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,791,366 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $21,873,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522,370 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,649,084 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $20,135,000 after buying an additional 18,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 12.9% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,596,638 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $11,448,000 after purchasing an additional 182,223 shares in the last quarter.

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.