Bloomin' Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) Shares Gap Up on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $7.93, but opened at $8.42. Bloomin' Brands shares last traded at $7.66, with a volume of 566,994 shares.

The restaurant operator reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share.

Bloomin' Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 20th. Bloomin' Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -2,000.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLMN has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays decreased 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. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Bloomin' Brands from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Bloomin' Brands from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Bank of America lowered Bloomin' Brands from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $18.00 to $13.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Bloomin' Brands from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $13.75.

Insider Activity at Bloomin' Brands

In other news, EVP Patrick M. Hafner sold 9,555 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.32, for a total transaction of $79,497.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Bloomin' Brands by 2.9% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 960,865 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $6,889,000 after acquiring an additional 26,643 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Bloomin' Brands in the 1st quarter worth approximately $195,000. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bloomin' Brands by 294.4% in the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 8,709 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 6,501 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Bloomin' Brands by 12.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,596,638 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $11,448,000 after buying an additional 182,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Bloomin' Brands by 13.1% in the 1st quarter. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC now owns 52,967 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $380,000 after buying an additional 6,122 shares in the last quarter.

Bloomin' Brands Trading Up 20.7%

The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46. The business has a 50 day moving average of $7.85 and a 200-day moving average of $11.00. The stock has a market cap of $748.24 million, a PE ratio of -80.08 and a beta of 1.30.

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.