Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $27.00 to $20.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $18.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays dropped their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $30.00 to $22.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup decreased their price target 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, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $19.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bloomin’ Brands currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $22.33.

Bloomin’ Brands Stock Performance

Shares of BLMN opened at $15.78 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.66 and a beta of 2.04. Bloomin’ Brands has a twelve month low of $15.14 and a twelve month high of $30.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $16.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.16.

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

Bloomin’ Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 20th. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 150.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bloomin’ Brands

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rye Brook Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Rye Brook Capital LLC now owns 247,700 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $7,104,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 23,587 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $676,000 after acquiring an additional 1,915 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 2.5% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,375,128 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $68,119,000 after acquiring an additional 58,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Bloomin’ Brands during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,042,000.

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.