Franklin Resources Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN - Free Report) by 809.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 455,010 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 405,003 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.54% of Bloomin' Brands worth $5,556,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BLMN. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in Bloomin' Brands by 22.9% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 19,186 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 3,574 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Bloomin' Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $500,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 49,723 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Bloomin' Brands by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,529,130 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $41,806,000 after purchasing an additional 147,895 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Bloomin' Brands by 606.6% in the 4th 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 last quarter.

Insider Activity

In other Bloomin' Brands news, EVP Patrick M. Hafner sold 9,555 shares of Bloomin' Brands stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.32, for a total value of $79,497.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Bloomin' Brands Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BLMN traded up $0.00 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $7.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 424,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,910,709. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $8.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.05. Bloomin' Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $6.09 and a fifty-two week high of $27.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $643.27 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -68.68 and a beta of 1.76. 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 Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.92%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. Bloomin' Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -40.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLMN has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Bloomin' Brands from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Bloomin' Brands from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Bank of America downgraded Bloomin' Brands from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $18.00 to $13.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays set a $11.00 price target on Bloomin' Brands and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Bloomin' Brands from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Two 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 has a consensus 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.