Verition Fund Management LLC Raises Holdings in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)

Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) by 43.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 720,403 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 217,832 shares during the quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Bloomin’ Brands were worth $11,908,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BLMN. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the third quarter worth $26,000. KBC Group NV increased its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 79.1% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Bloomin’ Brands in the second quarter valued at about $111,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the second quarter worth about $169,000. Finally, Olympiad Research LP acquired a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the third quarter valued at about $202,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLMN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bloomin’ Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $27.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Bloomin’ Brands from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.70.

Bloomin’ Brands Trading Down 2.2 %

BLMN opened at $13.94 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of -126.73 and a beta of 2.04. Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $12.26 and a one year high of $30.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.31. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $15.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.60.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Bloomin’ Brands had a positive return on equity of 62.18% and a negative net margin of 0.12%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. will post 1.8 EPS for the current year.

Bloomin’ Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.89%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently -872.73%.

About Bloomin’ Brands

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.