Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) Shares Up 4.9% – Time to Buy?

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)’s stock price was up 4.9% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $8.37 and last traded at $8.34. Approximately 1,230,979 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 36% from the average daily volume of 1,928,250 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.95.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLMN has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America cut shares of Bloomin’ Brands from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $13.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com upgraded Bloomin’ Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Bloomin’ Brands from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.50.

Bloomin’ Brands Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $8.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $713.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -76.36 and a beta of 1.76.

Bloomin’ Brands Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio is -40.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Patrick M. Hafner sold 9,555 shares of Bloomin’ Brands stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.32, for a total transaction of $79,497.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bloomin’ Brands

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLMN. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 50,007 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $773,000 after acquiring an additional 1,392 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 28.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,304 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 1,414 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 238,093 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,907,000 after acquiring an additional 2,977 shares during the last quarter.

About Bloomin’ Brands

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc engages in the acquisition, operation, design, and development of restaurant concepts. It operates through the U.S. and International geographical segments. The U.S. segment operates in the USA and Puerto Rico. The International segment operates in Brazil, South Korea, Hong Kong, and China.