Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) Price Target Cut to $27.00 by Analysts at BMO Capital Markets

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) had its target price reduced by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $29.00 to $27.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target points to a potential upside of 12.69% from the stock’s previous close.

BLMN has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Bloomin’ Brands from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $26.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.70.

Bloomin’ Brands Price Performance

BLMN stock remained flat at $23.96 during trading on Wednesday. 534,091 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,318,059. Bloomin’ Brands has a 12 month low of $22.03 and a 12 month high of $30.13. The company has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.51, a P/E/G ratio of 9.85 and a beta of 2.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $27.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.19.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.05). Bloomin’ Brands had a net margin of 5.30% and a return on equity of 73.67%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bloomin’ Brands will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bloomin’ Brands

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 26,763 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $753,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 4.8% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,250 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares during the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 5.2% in the first quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 13,686 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $393,000 after buying an additional 671 shares during the last quarter. Rye Brook Capital LLC increased its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 0.3% in the first quarter. Rye Brook Capital LLC now owns 247,700 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,104,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. grew its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. now owns 11,207 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 756 shares during the last quarter.

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.