Short Interest in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) Increases By 13.0%

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,720,000 shares, an increase of 13.0% from the December 15th total of 7,720,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,850,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.7 days. Currently, 10.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BLMN. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Bloomin’ Brands in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “sell” rating and a $13.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $13.00 target price (down previously from $19.00) on shares of Bloomin’ Brands in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of Bloomin’ Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.90.

Bloomin’ Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Bloomin’ Brands stock traded down $0.20 on Friday, hitting $11.29. 1,532,423 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,609,642. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $12.57 and its 200 day moving average is $15.59. Bloomin’ Brands has a 52-week low of $11.03 and a 52-week high of $30.13.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last released its 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 company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. Bloomin’ Brands had a positive return on equity of 62.18% and a negative net margin of 0.12%. The business’s revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.44 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Bloomin’ Brands will post 1.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bloomin’ Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Monday, November 25th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 25th. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -872.65%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bloomin’ Brands

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 34.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,381,150 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $22,830,000 after purchasing an additional 356,456 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 29.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 219,080 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,621,000 after purchasing an additional 49,723 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 58.3% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 691,585 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $11,432,000 after purchasing an additional 254,570 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 6.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,529,130 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $41,806,000 after purchasing an additional 147,895 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 6.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,255,059 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $20,746,000 after purchasing an additional 70,925 shares during the last quarter.

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.