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

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,720,000 shares, a growth of 13.0% from the December 15th total of 7,720,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,850,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.7 days. Approximately 10.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bloomin’ Brands

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BLMN. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Bloomin’ Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 79.1% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 606.6% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,890 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 4,198 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at about $111,000. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at about $169,000.

Bloomin’ Brands Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of BLMN opened at $11.29 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $12.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $957.84 million, a P/E ratio of -102.63 and a beta of 1.97. Bloomin’ Brands has a 1-year low of $11.03 and a 1-year high of $30.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.44 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Bloomin’ Brands will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Bloomin’ Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.50%. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -872.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BLMN. UBS Group decreased their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised Bloomin’ Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Bloomin’ Brands in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “sell” rating and a $13.00 target price for the company. Raymond James cut Bloomin’ Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bloomin’ Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.90.

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.