Bloomin' Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) Downgraded by Zacks Research to "Strong Sell"

Key Points

• Bloomin' Brands has been downgraded by Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating, indicating significant concerns from analysts about the company's performance.
• Despite the downgrade, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase have raised their target prices for the stock, reflecting mixed sentiments among analysts.
• Bloomin' Brands reported better-than-expected earnings with a quarterly EPS of $0.33, surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.28, but faced challenges with a net margin of -0.12%.

Bloomin' Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Bloomin' Brands from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Bloomin' Brands from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Bloomin' Brands from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Bloomin' Brands from $8.00 to $6.50 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Bloomin' Brands from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $9.88.

Bloomin' Brands Stock Performance

Bloomin' Brands stock opened at $7.17 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $609.95 million, a P/E ratio of -143.40 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $7.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.02. Bloomin' Brands has a 52 week low of $6.09 and a 52 week high of $17.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.29.

Bloomin' Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $974.69 million. Bloomin' Brands had a positive return on equity of 44.03% and a negative net margin of 0.12%.The business's quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bloomin' Brands will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bloomin' Brands

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of BLMN. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Bloomin' Brands by 83,825.0% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,357 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 3,353 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Bloomin' Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Bloomin' Brands by 72.9% in the second quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,743 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Bloomin' Brands by 505.7% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,239 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 5,209 shares during the last quarter.

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.

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