Easterly Investment Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN - Free Report) by 9.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 783,126 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 69,185 shares during the quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC owned approximately 0.92% of Bloomin' Brands worth $5,615,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Bloomin' Brands by 28.9% in the 1st 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 stake in shares of Bloomin' Brands in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Bloomin' Brands in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Bloomin' Brands in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bloomin' Brands during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000.

Bloomin' Brands Stock Performance

BLMN traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $9.23. 2,183,736 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,175,575. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $8.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $783.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -307.56 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38. Bloomin' Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $6.09 and a 1-year high of $21.45.

Bloomin' Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 positive return on equity of 55.08% and a negative net margin of 0.05%. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.70 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bloomin' Brands, Inc. will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Bloomin' Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 20th. Bloomin' Brands's payout ratio is -2,000.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLMN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $10.00 target price on Bloomin' Brands and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Bloomin' Brands from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on Bloomin' Brands from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Bloomin' Brands from $13.00 to $8.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $12.75.

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.