Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) Trading Down 4.3% – Time to Sell?

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) shares were down 4.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $11.44 and last traded at $11.44. Approximately 184,952 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 1,544,493 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.95.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on BLMN shares. Bank of America cut their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bloomin’ Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Bloomin’ Brands in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “sell” rating and a $13.00 price target for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bloomin’ Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.09.

Bloomin’ Brands Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $14.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.55. The company has a market cap of $998.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -106.99 and a beta of 1.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.31.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.02. Bloomin’ Brands had a positive return on equity of 62.18% and a negative net margin of 0.12%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.44 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. will post 1.8 EPS for the current year.

Bloomin’ Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 25th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.16%. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio is -872.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,381,150 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $22,830,000 after acquiring an additional 356,456 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 29.6% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,492,119 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $47,923,000 after buying an additional 569,855 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 58.3% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 691,585 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $11,432,000 after purchasing an additional 254,570 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 29.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 219,080 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,621,000 after acquiring an additional 49,723 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the second quarter valued at approximately $563,000.

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.