LSV Asset Management Sells 172,596 Shares of Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)

LSV Asset Management cut its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,591,096 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 172,596 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management owned approximately 4.14% of Bloomin’ Brands worth $101,089,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Foundry Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 32.7% in the fourth quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 200,256 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,637,000 after buying an additional 49,398 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 1.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,527,385 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $308,048,000 after buying an additional 175,493 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the third quarter valued at $759,000. 13D Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the third quarter valued at $2,537,000. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 364.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 494,338 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $12,156,000 after buying an additional 387,896 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Bloomin’ Brands from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $26.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bloomin’ Brands currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.90.

Bloomin’ Brands Stock Performance

NASDAQ BLMN traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $25.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,434,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,298,144. Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.03 and a 12 month high of $30.13. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.15. The company has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.65 and a beta of 2.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The restaurant operator reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. Bloomin’ Brands had a return on equity of 73.67% and a net margin of 5.30%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bloomin’ Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.94%.

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.