Geode Capital Management LLC Sells 91,025 Shares of Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)

Geode Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN - Free Report) by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,844,580 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 91,025 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.17% of Bloomin' Brands worth $30,497,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLMN. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in shares of Bloomin' Brands during the 3rd quarter worth $41,325,000. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Bloomin' Brands in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,672,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Bloomin' Brands by 29.6% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,492,119 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $47,923,000 after purchasing an additional 569,855 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bloomin' Brands by 2,520.7% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 468,507 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $9,009,000 after purchasing an additional 450,630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Bloomin' Brands by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,381,150 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $22,830,000 after acquiring an additional 356,456 shares during the last quarter.

Bloomin' Brands Stock Down 1.2 %

BLMN traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $12.27. 1,659,543 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,550,243. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $13.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of -111.54 and a beta of 1.95. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $11.24 and a 1 year high of $30.13.

Bloomin' Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Bloomin' Brands had a positive return on equity of 62.18% and a negative net margin of 0.12%. Bloomin' Brands's quarterly revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.44 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bloomin' Brands, Inc. will post 1.8 EPS for the current year.

Bloomin' Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 25th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.82%. Bloomin' Brands's payout ratio is currently -872.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BLMN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Bloomin' Brands from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Bloomin' Brands from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Bloomin' Brands in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a "sell" rating and a $13.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Bloomin' Brands from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $19.09.

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.