Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) Short Interest Up 13.0% in January

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) saw a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,720,000 shares, a growth of 13.0% from the December 31st total of 7,720,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,850,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.7 days. Approximately 10.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Bloomin’ Brands Price Performance

BLMN stock remained flat at $12.56 during trading on Monday. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,948,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,708,782. The firm has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -114.17 and a beta of 1.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.17. Bloomin’ Brands has a 1 year low of $11.03 and a 1 year high of $30.13.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.02. Bloomin’ Brands had a positive return on equity of 62.18% and a negative net margin of 0.12%. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.44 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bloomin’ Brands will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bloomin’ Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BLMN. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the third quarter worth $26,000. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 79.1% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 1,489 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 606.6% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,890 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 4,198 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Bloomin’ Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at about $111,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in Bloomin’ Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $140,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Bloomin’ Brands from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America cut shares of Bloomin’ Brands from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Bloomin’ Brands in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “sell” rating and a $13.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $13.00 target price (down from $19.00) on shares of Bloomin’ Brands in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.30.

Bloomin’ Brands Company 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.