Vanguard Group Inc. Trims Stake in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. $BLMN

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its position in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) by 3.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,053,601 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 290,723 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 10.66% of Bloomin’ Brands worth $64,914,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BLMN. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 28.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,304 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 1,414 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. State of Wyoming lifted its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 99.5% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 10,319 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 5,146 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 505.7% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,239 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 5,209 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 27.4% in the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 25,805 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $185,000 after buying an additional 5,553 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLMN has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $8.00 to $6.50 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $13.00 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays lowered their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Bloomin’ Brands from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $9.88.

Bloomin’ Brands Stock Performance

Shares of BLMN stock opened at $7.36 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $626.12 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -147.20 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The business has a fifty day moving average of $8.81 and a 200 day moving average of $8.62. Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $6.09 and a 1 year high of $18.72.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $974.69 million. Bloomin’ Brands had a positive return on equity of 44.03% and a negative net margin of 0.12%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Bloomin’ Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.2%. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -1,200.00%.

Bloomin’ Brands Profile

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.