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

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of 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. Approximately 10.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,850,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.7 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bloomin’ Brands

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BLMN. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Bloomin’ Brands during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,489 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 4,198 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Bloomin’ Brands during the second quarter valued at $111,000. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Bloomin’ Brands in the second quarter valued at $169,000.

Bloomin’ Brands Stock Down 1.7 %

BLMN stock traded down $0.20 during trading 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 firm has a market capitalization of $957.84 million, a P/E ratio of -102.63 and a beta of 1.97. Bloomin’ Brands has a 1 year low of $11.03 and a 1 year 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.62.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $1.03 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.44 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bloomin’ Brands will post 1.8 EPS for the current year.

Bloomin’ Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 25th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 25th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.50%. Bloomin’ Brands’s payout ratio is -872.65%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BLMN. Raymond James cut shares of Bloomin’ Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised Bloomin’ Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Bloomin’ Brands in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $13.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bloomin’ Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.90.

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.