ExodusPoint Capital Management LP Acquires Shares of 433,141 Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN)

ExodusPoint Capital Management LP bought a new position in Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 433,141 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $5,289,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bryce Point Capital LLC purchased a new position in Bloomin’ Brands in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,314,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 809.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 455,010 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,556,000 after purchasing an additional 405,003 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 385.6% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,817,145 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $22,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,442,964 shares during the period.

Bloomin’ Brands Price Performance

BLMN opened at $6.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $577.53 million, a P/E ratio of -61.81 and a beta of 2.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46. Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $6.45 and a 12-month high of $27.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $9.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.63.

Bloomin’ Brands Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.82%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. Bloomin’ Brands’s payout ratio is currently -40.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Patrick M. Hafner sold 9,555 shares of the firm’s 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on BLMN. Barclays set a $11.00 target price on Bloomin’ Brands and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America cut shares of Bloomin’ Brands from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Bloomin’ Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bloomin’ Brands currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.50.

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.