Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Stake in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) by 1.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,527,385 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 175,493 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 14.43% of Bloomin’ Brands worth $308,048,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BLMN. Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 50,181 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,234,000 after buying an additional 8,800 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 14.5% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 47,202 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,161,000 after acquiring an additional 5,960 shares during the last quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel boosted its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 20.9% during the third quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 13,216 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 2,282 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al bought a new stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the third quarter worth about $2,071,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 43,290 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,065,000 after purchasing an additional 8,149 shares during the period.

Bloomin’ Brands Trading Up 3.2 %

NASDAQ:BLMN opened at $28.64 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.32 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.27. Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $22.03 and a one year high of $30.13. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.69.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The restaurant operator reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. Bloomin’ Brands had a net margin of 5.30% and a return on equity of 73.67%. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bloomin’ Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLMN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Bloomin’ Brands from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Nine 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 currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.90.

Bloomin’ Brands Company Profile

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.