Short Interest in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) Decreases By 6.5%

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,540,000 shares, a decline of 6.5% from the October 15th total of 8,060,000 shares. Approximately 9.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,510,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.0 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bloomin’ Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BLMN. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Bloomin’ Brands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 79.1% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 6,454.9% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 3,343 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 3,292 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Bloomin’ Brands during the second quarter valued at $111,000. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Bloomin’ Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at $169,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BLMN. StockNews.com upgraded Bloomin’ Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price 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. Citigroup cut their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.70.

Bloomin’ Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BLMN traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $12.96. 58,550 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,511,253. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $16.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -120.91 and a beta of 2.04. Bloomin’ Brands has a one year low of $12.95 and a one year high of $30.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.31.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.02. Bloomin’ Brands had a positive return on equity of 62.18% and a negative net margin of 0.12%. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.44 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bloomin’ Brands will post 1.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bloomin’ Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 25th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.41%. Bloomin’ Brands’s payout ratio is -872.73%.

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.