Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Here’s Why

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low on Friday . The company traded as low as $7.64 and last traded at $7.70, with a volume of 565087 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $8.05.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America cut shares of Bloomin’ Brands from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $13.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Bloomin’ Brands from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays set a $11.00 price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bloomin’ Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.50.

Bloomin’ Brands Trading Down 8.0 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $629.34 million, a P/E ratio of -67.36 and a beta of 2.04. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.96. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.10%. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently -40.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Patrick M. Hafner sold 9,555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bloomin’ Brands

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. increased 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 buying an additional 1,392 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 238,093 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,907,000 after purchasing an additional 2,977 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Bloomin’ Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000.

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.