Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) Shares Sold by Balyasny Asset Management L.P.

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. reduced its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) by 76.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 481,351 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,588,818 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned 0.57% of Bloomin’ Brands worth $5,877,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BLMN. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,529,130 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $41,806,000 after purchasing an additional 147,895 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,390,703 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $29,190,000 after acquiring an additional 10,635 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 385.6% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,817,145 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $22,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,442,964 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 565.9% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,791,366 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $21,873,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,649,084 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $20,135,000 after purchasing an additional 18,525 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on BLMN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Bloomin’ Brands from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bloomin’ Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays cut their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bloomin’ Brands has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.75.

Bloomin’ Brands Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BLMN opened at $7.30 on Friday. Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $6.09 and a 12 month high of $24.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $620.00 million, a PE ratio of -66.36 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $7.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.03.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. Bloomin’ Brands had a negative net margin of 0.12% and a positive return on equity of 62.18%. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bloomin’ Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.22%. Bloomin’ Brands’s payout ratio is -40.27%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Patrick M. Hafner sold 9,555 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Bloomin’ Brands Company Profile

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.