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

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) saw a large drop in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,540,000 shares, a drop of 6.5% from the October 15th total of 8,060,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,510,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.0 days. Approximately 9.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Bloomin’ Brands Trading Down 0.9 %

Bloomin’ Brands stock opened at $12.56 on Wednesday. Bloomin’ Brands has a 12-month low of $12.38 and a 12-month high of $30.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -114.17 and a beta of 2.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $15.98 and a 200 day moving average of $18.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. Bloomin’ Brands had a negative net margin of 0.12% and a positive return on equity of 62.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.44 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Bloomin’ Brands will post 1.8 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, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.64%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -872.65%.

Institutional Trading of Bloomin’ Brands

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 27,857 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $536,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $210,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 13,567 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 7.4% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 17,657 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $506,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 8.5% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 17,204 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BLMN. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com raised Bloomin’ Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered 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. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.70.

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.