Patrick M. Hafner Sells 9,555 Shares of Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) Stock

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) EVP Patrick M. Hafner sold 9,555 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.32, for a total value of $79,497.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Bloomin’ Brands Price Performance

NASDAQ BLMN opened at $8.56 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $727.01 million, a P/E ratio of -77.81 and a beta of 1.97. Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.00 and a 1 year high of $30.13. The business’s fifty day moving average is $11.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.31.

Bloomin’ Brands Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Bloomin’ Brands’s payout ratio is -40.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on BLMN shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered 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. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research 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 company 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 company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Bloomin’ Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bloomin’ Brands

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew 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 valued at $22,830,000 after acquiring an additional 356,456 shares in the last quarter. A&I Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $343,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 219,080 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,621,000 after acquiring an additional 49,723 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 58.3% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 691,585 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $11,432,000 after purchasing an additional 254,570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Skylands Capital LLC bought a new stake in Bloomin’ Brands in the fourth quarter worth $1,407,000.

About Bloomin’ Brands

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.