Short Interest in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) Expands By 5.9%

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,460,000 shares, an increase of 5.9% from the July 15th total of 7,990,000 shares. Approximately 10.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,720,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.9 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bloomin’ Brands

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the 1st quarter worth about $2,042,000. Annex Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 27.7% in the 1st quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 295,261 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $8,468,000 after acquiring an additional 64,006 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 219.2% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 165,705 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,187,000 after purchasing an additional 113,798 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,509,269 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $70,637,000 after buying an additional 104,368 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $4,600,000 after purchasing an additional 42,315 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLMN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $27.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $30.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bloomin’ Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.33.

Bloomin’ Brands Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ BLMN traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $17.27. 1,079,544 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,500,798. The company’s fifty day moving average is $18.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.12, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.33. Bloomin’ Brands has a fifty-two week low of $15.20 and a fifty-two week high of $30.13. The stock has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a PE ratio of 26.98 and a beta of 2.04.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.07). Bloomin’ Brands had a net margin of 1.56% and a return on equity of 65.73%. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.74 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Bloomin’ Brands will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Bloomin’ Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.56%. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 150.00%.

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.