Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 38,958 Shares of Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lowered its stake in Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN - Free Report) by 24.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 119,938 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 38,958 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.14% of Bloomin' Brands worth $860,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Bloomin' Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Bloomin' Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Bloomin' Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Bloomin' Brands during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, State of Wyoming raised its position in Bloomin' Brands by 99.5% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 10,319 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 5,146 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLMN has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Bloomin' Brands from $13.00 to $8.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Bloomin' Brands from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bloomin' Brands from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Bloomin' Brands from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bloomin' Brands has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $13.75.

Bloomin' Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BLMN traded down $0.75 on Friday, hitting $8.06. The company had a trading volume of 2,570,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,110,836. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $7.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.90. Bloomin' Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $6.09 and a 1-year high of $21.45. The stock has a market cap of $684.54 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -73.27 and a beta of 1.29.

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 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.70 earnings per share. Bloomin' Brands's revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Bloomin' Brands, Inc. will post 1.8 EPS for the current year.

Bloomin' Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.44%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 20th. Bloomin' Brands's dividend 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.