Brokerages Set Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) Target Price at $14.60

Shares of Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and nine have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $14.50.

A number of equities analysts have commented on BLMN shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bloomin’ Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Bank of America lowered Bloomin’ Brands from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $13.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th.

Bloomin’ Brands Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BLMN opened at $7.78 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $10.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.27. Bloomin’ Brands has a 1-year low of $7.72 and a 1-year high of $29.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $660.76 million, a PE ratio of -70.72 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.71%. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently -40.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bloomin’ Brands news, EVP Patrick M. Hafner sold 9,555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.32, for a total transaction of $79,497.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bloomin’ Brands

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 79.1% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000.

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.