Short Interest in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) Declines By 46.3%

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,540,000 shares, a decline of 46.3% from the February 29th total of 8,460,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,290,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days. Currently, 5.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bloomin’ Brands

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Bloomin’ Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. West Tower Group LLC purchased a new stake in Bloomin’ Brands in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 683.2% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,261 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in Bloomin’ Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Money Concepts Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Bloomin’ Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000.

Bloomin’ Brands Price Performance

Shares of BLMN stock traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $28.68. The stock had a trading volume of 1,015,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,302,064. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.69. 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 has a 12 month low of $22.03 and a 12 month high of $30.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.50 billion, a PE ratio of 11.32 and a beta of 1.99.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 23rd. The restaurant operator reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.06. Bloomin’ Brands had a net margin of 5.30% and a return on equity of 73.67%. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. Bloomin’ Brands’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bloomin’ Brands will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Bloomin’ Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 6th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. 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

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Bloomin’ Brands from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.90.

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.