Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLMN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Bloomin’ Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Raymond James lowered shares of Bloomin’ Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $13.00 price target (down previously from $19.00) on shares of Bloomin’ Brands in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Bloomin’ Brands in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “sell” rating and a $13.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bloomin’ Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.30.

Institutional Trading of Bloomin’ Brands

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BLMN. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 79.1% during the third 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 during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 606.6% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,890 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 4,198 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Bloomin’ Brands during the second quarter worth about $111,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in Bloomin’ Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $140,000.

Bloomin’ Brands Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BLMN remained flat at $12.56 during trading on Monday. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,948,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,708,911. Bloomin’ Brands has a 12-month low of $11.03 and a 12-month high of $30.13. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $12.41 and its 200 day moving average is $15.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46. The firm has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -114.17 and a beta of 1.97.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Bloomin’ Brands had a positive return on equity of 62.18% and a negative net margin of 0.12%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.44 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bloomin’ Brands will post 1.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.