MQS Management LLC Acquires Shares of 28,706 Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)

MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 28,706 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $552,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Bloomin’ Brands during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 284,000.0% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,841 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 2,840 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 6,454.9% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 3,343 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 3,292 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC increased its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC now owns 5,014 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $141,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 32.0% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 5,314 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $150,000 after buying an additional 1,288 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLMN has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $27.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.33.

Bloomin’ Brands Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BLMN opened at $16.74 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.16 and a beta of 2.05. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $17.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.85. Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.20 and a fifty-two week high of $30.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.46.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. Bloomin’ Brands had a return on equity of 61.90% and a net margin of 0.70%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Bloomin’ Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.73%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 20th. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 150.00%.

Bloomin’ Brands 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.