Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN – Get Rating) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,720,000 shares, a drop of 5.4% from the December 31st total of 9,220,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,580,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.5 days. Approximately 10.4% of the company’s stock are sold short.
Bloomin’ Brands Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ BLMN opened at $23.65 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a PE ratio of 25.16 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $21.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.33. Bloomin’ Brands has a fifty-two week low of $15.89 and a fifty-two week high of $25.51.
Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 28th. The restaurant operator reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.05 billion. Bloomin’ Brands had a return on equity of 92.10% and a net margin of 2.39%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Bloomin’ Brands will post 2.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research firms have weighed in on BLMN. TheStreet upgraded Bloomin’ Brands from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, October 28th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $20.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Monday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Bloomin’ Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Bloomin’ Brands in a research note on Friday, October 21st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $23.00 target price for the company. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $27.50 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.30.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, Director Elizabeth A. Smith sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.19, for a total transaction of $4,838,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 243,594 shares in the company, valued at $5,892,538.86. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Bloomin’ Brands news, Director Elizabeth A. Smith sold 203,032 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.93, for a total value of $4,655,523.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 243,594 shares in the company, valued at $5,585,610.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Elizabeth A. Smith sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.19, for a total value of $4,838,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 243,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,892,538.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 724,508 shares of company stock worth $17,083,646. 4.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bloomin’ Brands
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 474,126 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $9,539,000 after buying an additional 38,628 shares in the last quarter. Kendall Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the 4th quarter worth $200,000. Annex Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 122,185 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,458,000 after buying an additional 23,101 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 96,278 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,937,000 after buying an additional 9,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the 4th quarter worth $2,570,000.
Bloomin’ Brands Company Profile
Bloomin’ Brands, Inc engages in the acquisition, operation, design and development of restaurant concepts. It operates through the following segments: U.S. and International. The U.S. segment operates in USA and Puerto Rico. The International segment operates in Brazil, South Korea, Hong Kong, and China.