Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) Short Interest Update

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,540,000 shares, a drop of 6.5% from the October 15th total of 8,060,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,510,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.0 days. Currently, 9.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Bloomin’ Brands Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ BLMN opened at $12.56 on Wednesday. Bloomin’ Brands has a twelve month low of $12.38 and a twelve month high of $30.13. The firm has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a PE ratio of -114.17 and a beta of 2.04. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.02. Bloomin’ Brands had a positive return on equity of 62.18% and a negative net margin of 0.12%. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.44 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Bloomin’ Brands will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bloomin’ Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Monday, November 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.64%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. Bloomin’ Brands’s payout ratio is -872.65%.

Institutional Trading of Bloomin’ Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BLMN. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 219.2% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 165,705 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,187,000 after acquiring an additional 113,798 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 29.6% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,492,119 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $47,923,000 after purchasing an additional 569,855 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the second quarter valued at about $563,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at about $711,000. Finally, Easterly Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 588,864 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $11,324,000 after buying an additional 23,466 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Bloomin’ Brands from $27.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research 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 research report on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Bloomin’ Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bloomin’ Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.70.

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.