Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 529 Shares of Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 31,552 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 529 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Bloomin’ Brands were worth $888,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 1.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,527,385 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $308,048,000 after acquiring an additional 175,493 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,411,410 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $34,707,000 after purchasing an additional 86,272 shares during the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 644,653 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $18,147,000 after buying an additional 39,270 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 520,451 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $12,798,000 after purchasing an additional 20,549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 364.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 494,338 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $12,156,000 after buying an additional 387,896 shares during the last quarter.

Bloomin’ Brands Price Performance

BLMN opened at $22.99 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $27.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.15. 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 12-month low of $22.03 and a 12-month high of $30.13. The firm has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.09, a PEG ratio of 9.85 and a beta of 2.02.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. Bloomin’ Brands had a return on equity of 73.67% and a net margin of 5.30%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Bloomin’ Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. Bloomin’ Brands’s payout ratio is 37.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on BLMN. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Bloomin’ Brands from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $26.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.50.

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.