StockNews.com Downgrades Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) to Sell

StockNews.com cut shares of Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Bloomin’ Brands in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $13.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective 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. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $13.00 price target (down from $19.00) on shares of Bloomin’ Brands in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bloomin’ Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.90.

Bloomin’ Brands Price Performance

Bloomin’ Brands stock opened at $12.33 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of -112.08 and a beta of 1.97. Bloomin’ Brands has a 52-week low of $11.03 and a 52-week high of $30.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46. The company’s 50 day moving average is $12.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.38.

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

Institutional Trading of Bloomin’ Brands

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BLMN. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in 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 worth $49,105,000 after buying an additional 16,878 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 147,895 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in Bloomin’ Brands during the third quarter worth about $41,325,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 4.4% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,411,200 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $23,327,000 after buying an additional 59,418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 356,456 shares in 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.