Heartland Advisors Inc. Purchases Shares of 245,683 Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)

Heartland Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 245,683 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $7,452,000. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned about 0.28% of Bloomin' Brands as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Bloomin' Brands by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 26,763 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $753,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. grew its position in Bloomin' Brands by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. now owns 11,207 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 756 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Bloomin' Brands by 23.5% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 4,026 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 765 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Bloomin' Brands by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 17,267 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $486,000 after purchasing an additional 776 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Bloomin' Brands by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 39,057 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $960,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares during the last quarter.

Bloomin' Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Bloomin' Brands stock traded down $0.67 during trading on Friday, hitting $23.45. 1,534,043 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,353,601. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.64 and a beta of 2.02. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.18. Bloomin' Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.03 and a 52-week high of $30.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.12, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.33.

Bloomin' Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.05). Bloomin' Brands had a net margin of 1.56% and a return on equity of 65.73%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Bloomin' Brands, Inc. will post 2.46 EPS for the current year.

Bloomin' Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.09%. Bloomin' Brands's dividend payout ratio is presently 150.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Bloomin' Brands from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Bloomin' Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. 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 research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Bloomin' Brands from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Bloomin' Brands from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $27.50.

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.