JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) Price Target to $9.00

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) had its target price trimmed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $10.00 to $9.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

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

Bloomin’ Brands Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of Bloomin’ Brands stock opened at $8.09 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $687.09 million, a P/E ratio of -73.54 and a beta of 2.04. Bloomin’ Brands has a 52-week low of $7.75 and a 52-week high of $29.10. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.36.

Bloomin’ Brands Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.42%. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently -40.27%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Patrick M. Hafner sold 9,555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.32, for a total value of $79,497.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bloomin’ Brands

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Bloomin’ Brands in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Bloomin’ Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of 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.

About Bloomin’ Brands

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.