Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) Shares Sold by Jennison Associates LLC

Jennison Associates LLC cut its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) by 39.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,818,596 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,178,179 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Bloomin’ Brands were worth $51,193,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 683.2% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,261 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 54.8% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,460 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 23.5% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 4,026 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 765 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 221.2% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,147 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 2,856 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BLMN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Bloomin’ Brands from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $26.00 price target for the company. in a research note 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 stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Raymond James lifted 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. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Barclays raised 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.90.

Bloomin’ Brands Stock Up 1.8 %

BLMN stock opened at $27.30 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.03 and a twelve month high of $30.13. The company’s 50 day moving average is $27.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.02. The stock has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.79 and a beta of 2.00.

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

Bloomin’ Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued 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 3.52%. Bloomin’ Brands’s payout ratio is 37.94%.

Bloomin’ Brands 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.