Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) to Issue $0.24 Quarterly Dividend

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 8th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of 0.24 per share by the restaurant operator on Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th.

Bloomin’ Brands has increased its dividend by an average of 68.7% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 1 years. Bloomin’ Brands has a dividend payout ratio of 34.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Bloomin’ Brands to earn $2.79 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 34.4%.

Bloomin’ Brands Stock Performance

Shares of BLMN stock remained flat at $23.96 during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The stock had a trading volume of 1,240,831 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,325,745. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. Bloomin’ Brands has a fifty-two week low of $22.03 and a fifty-two week high of $30.13. The business has a fifty day moving average of $27.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.19. The company has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.85 and a beta of 2.02.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.05). Bloomin’ Brands had a net margin of 5.30% and a return on equity of 73.67%. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Bloomin’ Brands will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Bloomin’ Brands from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $26.00 target price on the stock. 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, Bloomin’ Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.50.

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.