Royce & Associates LP Buys 130,793 Shares of Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)

Royce & Associates LP grew its position in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) by 25.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 639,481 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 130,793 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Bloomin’ Brands were worth $7,808,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 79.1% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 606.6% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,890 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 4,198 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $140,000. AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 63,457.9% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 12,076 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $147,000 after acquiring an additional 12,057 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fruth Investment Management purchased a new position in Bloomin’ Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $152,000.

Bloomin’ Brands Trading Down 3.7 %

BLMN opened at $7.88 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $669.26 million, a P/E ratio of -71.63 and a beta of 2.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46. Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.75 and a 52 week high of $29.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $11.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.44.

Bloomin’ Brands Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Bloomin’ Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -40.27%.

Insider Activity at Bloomin’ Brands

In other Bloomin’ Brands news, EVP Patrick M. Hafner sold 9,555 shares of Bloomin’ Brands stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.32, for a total value of $79,497.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BLMN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Bloomin’ Brands from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays set a $11.00 target price on Bloomin’ Brands and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America lowered Bloomin’ Brands from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bloomin’ Brands has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.60.

About Bloomin’ Brands

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.