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

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,960,000 shares, a growth of 9.3% from the March 15th total of 4,540,000 shares. Approximately 5.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,300,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BLMN. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective 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. Raymond James upped their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Bloomin’ Brands from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $26.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Bloomin’ Brands from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.90.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Bloomin’ Brands in the third quarter worth about $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position 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 stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 31.9% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,303 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 557 shares during the period.

Bloomin’ Brands Stock Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ BLMN traded up $0.14 on Tuesday, reaching $26.93. The company had a trading volume of 555,364 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,291,344. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. The company’s fifty day moving average is $27.73 and its 200 day moving average is $25.89. Bloomin’ Brands has a 52-week low of $22.03 and a 52-week high of $30.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.59 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 the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.06. Bloomin’ Brands had a net margin of 5.30% and a return on equity of 73.67%. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bloomin’ Brands will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bloomin’ Brands Announces Dividend

The firm 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. Bloomin’ Brands’s payout ratio is presently 37.94%.

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.