Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) Shares Down 8.3% After Analyst Downgrade

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) shares dropped 8.3% during mid-day trading on Friday after The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on the stock from $13.00 to $10.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a sell rating on the stock. Bloomin’ Brands traded as low as $9.29 and last traded at $9.19. Approximately 1,835,305 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 8% from the average daily volume of 1,994,884 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.02.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on BLMN. Bank of America cut shares of Bloomin’ Brands from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $13.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays set a $11.00 price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bloomin’ Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bloomin’ Brands

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 6.6% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 2.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 50,007 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $773,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 79.1% in the third 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. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000.

Bloomin’ Brands Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $11.85 and its 200-day moving average is $14.23. The stock has a market cap of $795.83 million, a PE ratio of -85.26 and a beta of 1.97.

Bloomin’ Brands Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently -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.