Short Interest in Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) Rises By 9.3%

Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,960,000 shares, an increase of 9.3% from the March 15th total of 4,540,000 shares. Currently, 5.8% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,300,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bloomin' Brands

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Bloomin' Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Bloomin' Brands by 683.2% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,261 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in shares of Bloomin' Brands in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of Bloomin' Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Bloomin' Brands by 31.9% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,303 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 557 shares during the period.

Bloomin' Brands Price Performance

BLMN traded up $0.28 during trading on Monday, hitting $26.79. 1,117,970 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,301,801. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. The company has a market cap of $2.33 billion, a PE ratio of 10.59 and a beta of 2.00. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $27.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.89. Bloomin' Brands has a 1 year low of $22.03 and a 1 year high of $30.13.

Bloomin' Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The restaurant operator reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. Bloomin' Brands had a return on equity of 73.67% and a net margin of 5.30%. The firm's revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bloomin' Brands will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bloomin' Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. Bloomin' Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BLMN. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Bloomin' Brands from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Bloomin' Brands from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Bloomin' Brands from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $26.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Bloomin' Brands from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Bloomin' Brands from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $27.90.

Bloomin' Brands Company Profile

Bloomin' Brands, Inc, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates casual, upscale casual, and fine dining restaurants in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, U.S. and International. Its restaurant portfolio has four concepts, including Outback Steakhouse, a casual steakhouse restaurant; Carrabba's Italian Grill, a casual Italian restaurant; Bonefish Grill; and Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, a contemporary steakhouse.