Kennedy Capital Management LLC Sells 67,778 Shares of Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)

Kennedy Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) by 27.9% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 175,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 67,778 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Bloomin’ Brands were worth $5,035,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 27.7% during the 1st quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 295,261 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $8,468,000 after acquiring an additional 64,006 shares during the period. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the 1st quarter valued at $2,042,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,509,269 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $70,637,000 after buying an additional 104,368 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 163,419 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,600,000 after buying an additional 42,315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Bloomin’ Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $4,222,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on BLMN shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bloomin’ Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.56.

Bloomin’ Brands Stock Performance

Bloomin’ Brands stock traded up $0.56 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $20.71. The company had a trading volume of 1,889,680 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,462,527. The firm has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a PE ratio of 31.48 and a beta of 2.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.12, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.26. Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $16.20 and a one year high of $30.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $19.49 and a 200 day moving average of $24.20.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. Bloomin’ Brands had a net margin of 1.56% and a return on equity of 65.73%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

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.