41,862 Shares in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) Bought by Graham Capital Management L.P.

Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 41,862 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $511,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,392 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Bloomin’ Brands during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 1.3% during 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 period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Rye Brook Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Rye Brook Capital LLC now owns 167,700 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,048,000 after acquiring an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bloomin’ Brands news, EVP Patrick M. Hafner sold 9,555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.32, for a total transaction of $79,497.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Bloomin’ Brands Trading Up 4.0%

Shares of NASDAQ BLMN opened at $9.05 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $7.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.86. Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $6.09 and a 52-week high of $24.21. 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 cap of $768.63 million, a PE ratio of -82.27 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Bloomin’ Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.63%. Bloomin’ Brands’s payout ratio is -2,000.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BLMN shares. StockNews.com upgraded Bloomin’ Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Bloomin’ Brands from $13.00 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America lowered shares of Bloomin’ Brands from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.75.

Bloomin’ Brands 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.