First Trust Advisors LP Has $656,000 Stock Position in Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)

First Trust Advisors LP lessened its holdings in Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN - Free Report) by 42.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 53,699 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 40,092 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.06% of Bloomin' Brands worth $656,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 49,723 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Bloomin' Brands by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 50,007 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $773,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bloomin' Brands by 6.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,529,130 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $41,806,000 after purchasing an additional 147,895 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted 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 period. Finally, Goldstone Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Bloomin' Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $286,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BLMN. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bloomin' Brands from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Bloomin' Brands from $13.00 to $8.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Bank of America cut shares of Bloomin' Brands from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $18.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Bloomin' Brands from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Bloomin' Brands from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bloomin' Brands has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $13.75.

Insider Activity at Bloomin' Brands

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

Bloomin' Brands Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of BLMN traded up $0.25 on Wednesday, hitting $8.68. 647,335 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,024,947. The stock's 50 day moving average is $7.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.93. Bloomin' Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $6.09 and a 1 year high of $24.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $736.78 million, a P/E ratio of -78.67 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46.

Bloomin' Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.59 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. The firm's 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.92%. Bloomin' Brands's payout ratio is currently -2,000.00%.

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.