Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stake in Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN - Free Report) by 6.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,529,130 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 147,895 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 2.98% of Bloomin' Brands worth $41,806,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Bloomin' Brands during the third quarter worth $26,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Bloomin' Brands by 79.1% in the 3rd 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. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Bloomin' Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at about $111,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Bloomin' Brands during the second quarter worth about $169,000. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Bloomin' Brands during the second quarter worth approximately $230,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on BLMN shares. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Bloomin' Brands from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Bloomin' Brands from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Bloomin' Brands from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Bloomin' Brands from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Bloomin' Brands in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a "sell" rating and a $13.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $19.09.

Bloomin' Brands Trading Up 2.7 %

NASDAQ:BLMN traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $11.77. 707,577 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,548,284. The stock has a market capitalization of $998.60 million, a P/E ratio of -106.99 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. The company has a fifty day moving average of $14.25 and a 200 day moving average of $16.55. Bloomin' Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $11.24 and a 12 month high of $30.13.

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

Bloomin' Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Monday, November 25th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.16%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 25th. Bloomin' Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -872.73%.

Bloomin' Brands Company Profile

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.