Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) Short Interest Down 30.2% in March

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) saw a significant decrease in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,360,000 shares, a decrease of 30.2% from the February 28th total of 10,540,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,340,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days. Approximately 8.9% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Bloomin’ Brands

In other news, EVP Patrick M. Hafner sold 9,555 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.32, for a total value of $79,497.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bloomin’ Brands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BLMN. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Bloomin’ Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 606.6% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,890 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 4,198 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on BLMN. Bank of America downgraded shares of Bloomin’ Brands from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $13.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays set a $11.00 target price on Bloomin’ Brands and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.50.

Bloomin’ Brands Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BLMN traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $7.29. The stock had a trading volume of 763,184 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,807,717. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $618.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -66.41 and a beta of 2.04. Bloomin’ Brands has a 52 week low of $7.18 and a 52 week high of $29.10.

Bloomin’ Brands Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.24%. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -40.27%.

Bloomin’ Brands Company Profile

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc engages in the acquisition, operation, design, and development of restaurant concepts. It operates through the U.S. and International geographical segments. The U.S. segment operates in the USA and Puerto Rico. The International segment operates in Brazil, South Korea, Hong Kong, and China.