Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Tuesday morning.

BLMN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Bloomin’ Brands from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. UBS Group cut their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $26.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on Bloomin’ Brands from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bloomin’ Brands currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.80.

Bloomin’ Brands Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BLMN opened at $16.59 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.46. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $16.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.35. Bloomin’ Brands has a 52 week low of $15.14 and a 52 week high of $30.13. The stock has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.81 and a beta of 2.04.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bloomin’ Brands

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLMN. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 23,587 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,915 shares in the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Bloomin’ Brands during the first quarter worth approximately $2,042,000. Easterly Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Bloomin’ Brands by 1.9% during the first quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 565,398 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,216,000 after buying an additional 10,396 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the 1st quarter valued at $229,000. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 75,979 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,179,000 after acquiring an additional 1,017 shares during the period.

About Bloomin’ Brands

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.