Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases New Position in Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 236,060 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $2,882,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.28% of Bloomin' Brands as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bloomin' Brands by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,529,130 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $41,806,000 after purchasing an additional 147,895 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in Bloomin' Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at $41,325,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Bloomin' Brands by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,390,703 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $29,190,000 after buying an additional 10,635 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $17,270,000 after acquiring an additional 159,356 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in Bloomin' Brands by 34.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,381,150 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $22,830,000 after acquiring an additional 356,456 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays set a $11.00 target price on shares of Bloomin' Brands and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America cut shares of Bloomin' Brands from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Bloomin' Brands from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Bloomin' Brands from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on 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 assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $14.50.

Bloomin' Brands Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of BLMN traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $7.82. 2,713,647 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,834,670. The business has a fifty day moving average of $10.19 and a 200-day moving average of $12.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $664.16 million, a PE ratio of -71.08 and a beta of 2.04. Bloomin' Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $7.08 and a 1-year high of $29.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46.

Bloomin' Brands Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.67%. Bloomin' Brands's payout ratio is presently -40.27%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Patrick M. Hafner sold 9,555 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Bloomin' Brands Company Profile

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.