Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 8,410,000 shares, a drop of 10.9% from the September 15th total of 9,440,000 shares. Currently, 10.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,550,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.4 days.

Institutional Trading of Bloomin’ Brands

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLMN. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,042,000. Annex Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 64,006 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 219.2% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 165,705 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,187,000 after acquiring an additional 113,798 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 29.6% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,492,119 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $47,923,000 after purchasing an additional 569,855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the 2nd quarter worth $563,000.

Bloomin’ Brands Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BLMN traded up $0.54 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $16.32. The company had a trading volume of 2,910,463 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,460,967. The stock has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.23 and a beta of 2.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.46, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.16. Bloomin’ Brands has a one year low of $15.14 and a one year high of $30.13.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.07). Bloomin’ Brands had a return on equity of 61.90% and a net margin of 0.70%. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bloomin’ Brands will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Bloomin’ Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 20th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.88%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 20th. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 150.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLMN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays cut their price objective on Bloomin’ Brands from $30.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $27.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Bloomin’ Brands from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bloomin’ Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bloomin’ Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.33.

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.