Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on BLMN. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Bloomin’ Brands from $27.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group reduced their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.33.

Bloomin’ Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BLMN traded down $0.34 during trading on Friday, reaching $15.63. 1,774,694 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,492,658. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.42 and a beta of 2.04. Bloomin’ Brands has a 52-week low of $15.44 and a 52-week high of $30.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.12, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The company has a 50-day moving average of $18.96 and a 200-day moving average of $23.77.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.07). Bloomin’ Brands had a return on equity of 65.73% and a net margin of 1.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Bloomin’ Brands will post 2.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bloomin’ Brands

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in Bloomin’ Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at $711,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 0.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,553,719 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $49,105,000 after buying an additional 16,878 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 92,733 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,783,000 after buying an additional 5,752 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 4.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 219,002 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,211,000 after acquiring an additional 9,988 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC raised its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 1,693.0% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 18,862 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 17,810 shares during the last quarter.

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.