Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 480,897 Shares of Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP trimmed its stake in shares of Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN - Free Report) by 22.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,689,485 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 480,897 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 1.99% of Bloomin' Brands worth $20,628,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bloomin' Brands during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Bloomin' Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bloomin' Brands during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bloomin' Brands by 606.6% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,890 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 4,198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Bloomin' Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $140,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bloomin' Brands from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Bank of America downgraded shares of 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 research report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Bloomin' Brands from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Bloomin' Brands from $13.00 to $8.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $13.75.

Bloomin' Brands Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ BLMN traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $7.30. 3,526,678 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,007,656. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.31. Bloomin' Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $6.09 and a one year high of $24.50. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $7.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.03. The company has a market cap of $620.00 million, a PE ratio of -66.36 and a beta of 1.30.

Bloomin' Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. Bloomin' Brands had a negative net margin of 0.12% and a positive return on equity of 62.18%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. Bloomin' Brands's quarterly revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Bloomin' Brands, Inc. will post 1.8 EPS for the current year.

Bloomin' Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 20th. Bloomin' Brands's dividend payout ratio is currently -40.27%.

Insider Transactions at Bloomin' Brands

In other news, EVP Patrick M. Hafner sold 9,555 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.32, for a total value of $79,497.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

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.