Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) Shares Down 3.6% – What’s Next?

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) shares fell 3.6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $8.29 and last traded at $8.24. 1,417,868 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 18% from the average session volume of 1,726,437 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.55.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BLMN. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Bloomin’ Brands from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Bank of America cut Bloomin’ Brands from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays set a $11.00 target price on Bloomin’ Brands and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.60.

Bloomin’ Brands Stock Down 4.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.44. The stock has a market cap of $666.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -71.29 and a beta of 2.04.

Bloomin’ Brands Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.65%. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -40.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bloomin’ Brands

In related news, EVP Patrick M. Hafner sold 9,555 shares of Bloomin’ Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.32, for a total transaction of $79,497.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 6.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,529,130 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $41,806,000 after buying an additional 147,895 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the third quarter valued at approximately $41,325,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,390,703 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $29,190,000 after buying an additional 10,635 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 385.6% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,817,145 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $22,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,442,964 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted 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 worth $21,873,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522,370 shares during the period.

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.