Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) Short Interest Up 9.4% in November

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,250,000 shares, a growth of 9.4% from the October 31st total of 7,540,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,600,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.2 days. Approximately 9.9% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Bloomin’ Brands Trading Down 4.2 %

Bloomin’ Brands stock traded down $0.58 during trading on Monday, reaching $13.36. The company had a trading volume of 882,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,524,658. Bloomin’ Brands has a 12-month low of $12.26 and a 12-month high of $30.13. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $15.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -126.72 and a beta of 2.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.31.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.02. Bloomin’ Brands had a negative net margin of 0.12% and a positive return on equity of 62.18%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.44 earnings per share. Bloomin’ Brands’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Bloomin’ Brands will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bloomin’ Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.19%. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -872.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLMN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James cut Bloomin’ Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $27.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective 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 lowered their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bloomin’ Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.70.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 0.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 16,878 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 6.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,529,130 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $41,806,000 after purchasing an additional 147,895 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in Bloomin’ Brands in the third quarter valued at $41,325,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 29.6% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,492,119 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $47,923,000 after acquiring an additional 569,855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. bought a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,672,000.

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.