Royce & Associates LP Boosts Stock Holdings in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)

Royce & Associates LP grew its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) by 25.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 639,481 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 130,793 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned 0.75% of Bloomin’ Brands worth $7,808,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of BLMN. KBC Group NV grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,489 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 606.6% in the fourth 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 during the period. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the fourth quarter worth $140,000. AlphaQuest LLC raised its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 63,457.9% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 12,076 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $147,000 after buying an additional 12,057 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fruth Investment Management purchased a new stake in Bloomin’ Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $152,000.

Bloomin’ Brands Price Performance

BLMN stock opened at $7.88 on Wednesday. Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $7.75 and a 52-week high of $29.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $669.26 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -71.63 and a beta of 2.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $11.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.44.

Bloomin’ Brands Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.61%. Bloomin’ Brands’s payout ratio is presently -40.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BLMN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America lowered shares of Bloomin’ Brands from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $13.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com raised Bloomin’ Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays set a $11.00 price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bloomin’ Brands has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Patrick M. Hafner sold 9,555 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.32, for a total transaction of $79,497.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Bloomin’ Brands 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.