Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 30,929 Shares of Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lessened its stake in shares of Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN - Free Report) by 12.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 216,120 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 30,929 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.25% of Bloomin' Brands worth $6,084,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bloomin' Brands by 1.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,527,385 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $308,048,000 after acquiring an additional 175,493 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Bloomin' Brands by 6.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,411,410 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $34,707,000 after acquiring an additional 86,272 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Bloomin' Brands by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 644,653 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $18,147,000 after buying an additional 39,270 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Bloomin' Brands by 4.1% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 520,451 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $12,798,000 after buying an additional 20,549 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in Bloomin' Brands by 364.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 494,338 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $12,156,000 after buying an additional 387,896 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Bloomin' Brands Price Performance

Shares of Bloomin' Brands stock traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $27.03. The stock had a trading volume of 1,587,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,300,898. Bloomin' Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.03 and a twelve month high of $30.13. 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 stock's 50 day moving average is $27.74 and its 200 day moving average is $26.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a PE ratio of 10.79 and a beta of 2.00.

Bloomin' Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. Bloomin' Brands had a net margin of 5.30% and a return on equity of 73.67%. Bloomin' Brands's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Bloomin' Brands, Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bloomin' Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. Bloomin' Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.94%.

Bloomin' Brands 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.