Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) by 100.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 329,225 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 164,656 shares during the period. Bloomin’ Brands accounts for approximately 0.6% of Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC owned 0.38% of Bloomin’ Brands worth $9,268,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 1.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,527,385 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $308,048,000 after purchasing an additional 175,493 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the third quarter worth $759,000. 13D Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the third quarter valued at about $2,537,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 364.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 494,338 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $12,156,000 after purchasing an additional 387,896 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 53.4% during the third quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 291,389 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,165,000 after buying an additional 101,393 shares during the last quarter.

Bloomin’ Brands Stock Performance

BLMN traded up $0.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $27.05. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 314,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,284,934. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.34. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $27.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.92. Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.03 and a 52-week high of $30.13. The company has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.68 and a beta of 2.00.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The restaurant operator reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. Bloomin’ Brands had a net margin of 5.30% and a return on equity of 73.67%. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bloomin’ Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BLMN shares. Barclays raised their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.90.

Bloomin’ Brands 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.