Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (BLMN) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.24 on November 29th

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 17th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 14th will be given a dividend of 0.24 per share by the restaurant operator on Wednesday, November 29th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 13th.

Bloomin’ Brands has raised its dividend payment by an average of 11.9% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 1 years. Bloomin’ Brands has a payout ratio of 34.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Bloomin’ Brands to earn $2.58 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 37.2%.

Bloomin’ Brands Stock Performance

Bloomin’ Brands stock opened at $22.74 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $24.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market cap of $1.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.97. Bloomin’ Brands has a fifty-two week low of $19.97 and a fifty-two week high of $28.67.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 3rd. The restaurant operator reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. Bloomin’ Brands had a net margin of 5.73% and a return on equity of 79.49%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Bloomin’ Brands will post 2.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BLMN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James lowered shares of Bloomin’ Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 2nd. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 6th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bloomin’ Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.90.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BLMN. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 171.3% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,626,195 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $123,439,000 after buying an additional 3,552,591 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 13.0% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 15,152,121 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $332,436,000 after buying an additional 1,747,152 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Bloomin’ Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $16,198,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bloomin’ Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $13,494,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 2,002.9% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 612,666 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $12,327,000 after buying an additional 583,532 shares during the last quarter.

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.