Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) Shares Sold by River Global Investors LLP

River Global Investors LLP cut its stake in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 45,561 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 399 shares during the period. River Global Investors LLP’s holdings in Bloomin’ Brands were worth $1,282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 683.2% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,261 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 23.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 4,026 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 765 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 221.2% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,147 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 2,856 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the 3rd quarter worth $206,000.

Bloomin’ Brands Trading Up 2.1 %

Bloomin’ Brands stock traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $25.61. 1,434,760 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,298,144. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.18. 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 $2.23 billion, a PE ratio of 10.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.85 and a beta of 2.02. 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 (NASDAQ:BLMN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The restaurant operator reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion during 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%. Bloomin’ Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. Research analysts expect that Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bloomin’ Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLMN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Citigroup increased their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Bloomin’ Brands from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $26.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.90.

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.