Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) Shares Bought by Northern Trust Corp

Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN - Free Report) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 840,099 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 46,422 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 0.99% of Bloomin' Brands worth $10,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. A&I Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bloomin' Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $343,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Bloomin' Brands by 29.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 219,080 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,621,000 after purchasing an additional 49,723 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Bloomin' Brands by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,414,415 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $17,270,000 after purchasing an additional 159,356 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Bloomin' Brands by 86.0% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 381,248 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $4,655,000 after purchasing an additional 176,240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Skylands Capital LLC acquired a new position in Bloomin' Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,407,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BLMN. Bank of America downgraded shares of Bloomin' Brands from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $13.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target 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. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Bloomin' Brands from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bloomin' Brands from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Bloomin' Brands from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $13.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Patrick M. Hafner sold 9,555 shares of the firm's 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 accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Bloomin' Brands Stock Performance

BLMN traded down $0.39 on Wednesday, hitting $7.62. 2,883,228 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,052,816. Bloomin' Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $6.09 and a 12-month high of $23.30. The company has a 50 day moving average of $7.83 and a 200-day moving average of $10.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $647.17 million, a PE ratio of -69.27 and a beta of 1.30.

Bloomin' Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. Bloomin' Brands had a positive return on equity of 62.18% and a negative net margin of 0.12%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bloomin' Brands, Inc. will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Bloomin' Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.87%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. Bloomin' Brands's payout ratio is -2,000.00%.

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.