Texas Permanent School Fund Lowers Holdings in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)

Texas Permanent School Fund lessened its stake in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN – Get Rating) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 59,023 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 5,199 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund owned 0.07% of Bloomin’ Brands worth $1,188,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 43.7% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,005,546 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $20,232,000 after purchasing an additional 305,915 shares during the last quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in Bloomin’ Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $516,000. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Bloomin’ Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $188,000. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,803 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 1,643 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Advisors Network LLC increased its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 42,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $853,000 after buying an additional 1,720 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on BLMN. Bank of America began coverage on Bloomin’ Brands in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $27.00 price objective for the company. Credit Suisse Group boosted their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Bloomin’ Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $29.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bloomin’ Brands currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Elizabeth A. Smith sold 64,295 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.89, for a total transaction of $1,793,187.55. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 243,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,793,836.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 4.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Bloomin’ Brands Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BLMN opened at $23.25 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $24.76 and a 200 day moving average of $23.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.37. Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.89 and a 12-month high of $28.46. The company has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a PE ratio of 20.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.88.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 28th. The restaurant operator reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.09. Bloomin’ Brands had a return on equity of 92.23% and a net margin of 2.60%. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. will post 2.93 EPS for the current year.

Bloomin’ Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 10th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 9th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.13%. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.76%.

About Bloomin’ Brands

(Get Rating)

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc engages in the acquisition, operation, design, and development of restaurant concepts. It operates through the U.S. and International geographical segments. The U.S. segment operates in the USA and Puerto Rico. The International segment operates in Brazil, South Korea, Hong Kong, and China.