Short Interest in Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) Decreases By 30.2%

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America lowered Bloomin' Brands from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $13.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays set a $11.00 price objective on shares of Bloomin' Brands and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group cut their target price on Bloomin' Brands from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets reduced 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 research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Bloomin' Brands from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $14.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bloomin' Brands news, EVP Patrick M. Hafner sold 9,555 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.32, for a total transaction of $79,497.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bloomin' Brands

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bloomin' Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $339,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bloomin' Brands by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,255,059 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $20,746,000 after purchasing an additional 70,925 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of Bloomin' Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at $402,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bloomin' Brands by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,381,150 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $22,830,000 after buying an additional 356,456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Bloomin' Brands in the 3rd quarter worth $294,000.

Bloomin' Brands Trading Down 8.4 %

Shares of BLMN stock traded down $0.66 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $7.16. 1,086,446 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,832,176. The stock has a market cap of $608.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -65.08 and a beta of 2.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46. Bloomin' Brands has a fifty-two week low of $7.08 and a fifty-two week high of $29.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.78.

Bloomin' Brands Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. Bloomin' Brands's payout ratio is -40.27%.

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.