Short Interest in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) Grows By 8.5%

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,550,000 shares, an increase of 8.5% from the January 15th total of 10,650,000 shares. Approximately 13.9% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,890,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.1 days.

Bloomin’ Brands Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BLMN opened at $11.48 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $12.07 and its 200 day moving average is $14.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $974.05 million, a P/E ratio of -104.09 and a beta of 1.97. Bloomin’ Brands has a 1 year low of $10.85 and a 1 year high of $30.13.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased 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 during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on BLMN shares. Raymond James cut Bloomin’ Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Bloomin’ Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Bloomin’ Brands from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $13.00 price target (down from $19.00) on shares of Bloomin’ Brands in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two equities 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, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.30.

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.