Bloomin' Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) Stock Price Up 4.9% - Should You Buy?

Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 4.9% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $8.37 and last traded at $8.34. Approximately 1,230,979 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 36% from the average daily volume of 1,928,250 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.95.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BLMN. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Bloomin' Brands from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Bloomin' Brands from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bloomin' Brands from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Bloomin' Brands from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $18.00 to $13.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bloomin' Brands presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $14.30.

Bloomin' Brands Stock Performance

The stock's 50-day moving average is $8.40 and its 200 day moving average is $11.61. 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 firm has a market cap of $687.09 million, a P/E ratio of -73.54 and a beta of 1.76.

Bloomin' Brands Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. Bloomin' Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -40.27%.

Insider Activity at Bloomin' Brands

In other Bloomin' Brands news, EVP Patrick M. Hafner sold 9,555 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bloomin' Brands

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Bloomin' Brands by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 50,007 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $773,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Bloomin' Brands by 28.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,304 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 1,414 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Bloomin' Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Bloomin' Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Bloomin' Brands by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 238,093 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,907,000 after buying an additional 2,977 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.