Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) Short Interest Update

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) was the target of a large increase in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,420,000 shares, an increase of 9.3% from the August 15th total of 8,620,000 shares. Approximately 11.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,690,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.6 days.

Bloomin’ Brands Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of BLMN traded up $0.46 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $17.56. 208,694 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,470,307. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a PE ratio of 26.72 and a beta of 2.05. Bloomin’ Brands has a 52 week low of $15.20 and a 52 week high of $30.13.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.07). Bloomin’ Brands had a return on equity of 61.90% and a net margin of 0.70%. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Bloomin’ Brands will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bloomin’ Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.47%. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 150.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BLMN. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $27.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Bloomin’ Brands from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Bloomin’ Brands from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.33.

Institutional Trading of Bloomin’ Brands

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BLMN. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 284,000.0% during the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,841 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 2,840 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 6,454.9% during the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 3,343 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 3,292 shares during the period. AdvisorShares Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC now owns 5,014 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $141,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 32.0% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 5,314 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $150,000 after acquiring an additional 1,288 shares in the last quarter.

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.