Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) Short Interest Down 30.2% in March

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,360,000 shares, a drop of 30.2% from the February 28th total of 10,540,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,340,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days. Currently, 8.9% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Patrick M. Hafner sold 9,555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.32, for a total transaction of $79,497.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bloomin’ Brands

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 34.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,381,150 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $22,830,000 after purchasing an additional 356,456 shares in the last quarter. A&I Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $343,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 219,080 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,621,000 after acquiring an additional 49,723 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 58.3% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 691,585 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $11,432,000 after acquiring an additional 254,570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,414,415 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,270,000 after purchasing an additional 159,356 shares during the period.

Bloomin’ Brands Price Performance

BLMN stock opened at $7.17 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $10.36 and a 200 day moving average of $12.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $608.96 million, a P/E ratio of -65.18 and a beta of 2.04. Bloomin’ Brands has a 1 year low of $7.16 and a 1 year high of $29.10.

Bloomin’ Brands Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.37%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently -40.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BLMN. UBS Group dropped their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America lowered Bloomin’ Brands from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays set a $11.00 price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bloomin’ Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bloomin’ Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.50.

About Bloomin’ Brands

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc engages in the acquisition, operation, design, and development of restaurant concepts. It operates through the U.S. and International geographical segments. The U.S. segment operates in the USA and Puerto Rico. The International segment operates in Brazil, South Korea, Hong Kong, and China.