Entropy Technologies LP Invests $466,000 in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)

Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 16,244 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $466,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BLMN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,527,385 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $308,048,000 after buying an additional 175,493 shares during the last quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC grew its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC now owns 29,531 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $831,000 after purchasing an additional 1,465 shares in the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC increased its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 53,635 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,510,000 after buying an additional 3,852 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 39,926 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,124,000 after buying an additional 869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kendall Capital Management lifted its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 53.0% during the 4th quarter. Kendall Capital Management now owns 35,250 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $992,000 after buying an additional 12,210 shares in the last quarter.

Bloomin’ Brands Price Performance

BLMN stock traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $19.20. The stock had a trading volume of 58,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,436,844. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.08 and a beta of 2.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.12. Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.20 and a 52 week high of $30.13.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.05). The firm 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 business’s revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. will post 2.4 EPS for the current year.

Bloomin’ Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 17th. Bloomin’ Brands’s payout ratio is 150.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Bloomin’ Brands from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bloomin’ Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.90.

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.