Bloomin' Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) Trading 4.7% Higher - Should You Buy?

Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN - Get Free Report) traded up 4.7% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $8.79 and last traded at $8.73. 1,349,143 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 36% from the average session volume of 2,100,110 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.34.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Bloomin' Brands from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Bloomin' Brands from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Bloomin' Brands from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Bloomin' Brands from $13.00 to $8.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Bloomin' Brands from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $13.75.

Bloomin' Brands Trading Down 6.6%

The firm's 50 day moving average price is $7.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $698.56 million, a P/E ratio of -74.77 and a beta of 1.29.

Bloomin' Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.59 earnings per share (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 analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. Bloomin' Brands had a positive return on equity of 62.18% and a negative net margin of 0.12%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bloomin' Brands, Inc. will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Bloomin' Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.29%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 20th. Bloomin' Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -2,000.00%.

Institutional Trading of Bloomin' Brands

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Bloomin' Brands by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,390,703 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $29,190,000 after purchasing an additional 10,635 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bloomin' Brands by 123.1% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,299,778 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $16,489,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268,988 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Bloomin' Brands by 385.6% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,817,145 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $22,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,442,964 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Bloomin' Brands by 565.9% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,791,366 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $21,873,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bloomin' Brands by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,649,084 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $20,135,000 after acquiring an additional 18,525 shares during the period.

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.