Axa S.A. Raises Stock Holdings in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)

Axa S.A. raised its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) by 11.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 204,739 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,689 shares during the period. Axa S.A.’s holdings in Bloomin’ Brands were worth $2,500,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 2.9% during 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 during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings 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 worth $2,907,000 after purchasing an additional 2,977 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Bloomin’ Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Rye Brook Capital LLC grew its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Rye Brook Capital LLC now owns 167,700 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,048,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLMN has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $13.00 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bloomin’ Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Bank of America lowered shares of Bloomin’ Brands from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Bloomin’ Brands from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bloomin’ Brands currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.75.

Bloomin’ Brands Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of BLMN stock opened at $7.35 on Friday. Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $6.09 and a 52-week high of $24.50. The business’s fifty day moving average is $7.87 and its 200 day moving average is $11.12. 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 company has a market capitalization of $623.82 million, a PE ratio of -66.77 and a beta of 1.30.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. Bloomin’ Brands had a positive return on equity of 62.18% and a negative net margin of 0.12%. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.70 earnings per share. Bloomin’ Brands’s revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. will post 1.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bloomin’ Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.17%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently -40.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bloomin’ Brands news, EVP Patrick M. Hafner sold 9,555 shares of Bloomin’ Brands stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.32, for a total transaction of $79,497.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.