Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Stake in Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN - Free Report) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,527,385 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 175,493 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 14.43% of Bloomin' Brands worth $308,048,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its position in Bloomin' Brands by 21.3% during the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 50,181 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,234,000 after purchasing an additional 8,800 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in Bloomin' Brands by 14.5% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 47,202 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,161,000 after purchasing an additional 5,960 shares during the period. Aurora Investment Counsel raised its position in Bloomin' Brands by 20.9% during the third quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 13,216 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 2,282 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al bought a new position in shares of Bloomin' Brands during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,071,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Bloomin' Brands by 23.2% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 43,290 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,065,000 after buying an additional 8,149 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. Raymond James increased their price target on Bloomin' Brands from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Barclays raised their target price on Bloomin' Brands from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Citigroup raised their target price on Bloomin' Brands from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Bloomin' Brands from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $27.90.

Bloomin' Brands Price Performance

BLMN traded up $0.04 during trading on Thursday, reaching $28.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,015,592 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,310,379. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.71. Bloomin' Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.03 and a 1 year high of $30.13. The company has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.34 and a beta of 1.99.

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

Bloomin' Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. Bloomin' Brands's payout ratio is presently 37.94%.

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.