Empowered Funds LLC Buys 414,146 Shares of Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. $BLMN

Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN) by 150.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 690,137 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 414,146 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Bloomin’ Brands were worth $3,727,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Bloomin’ Brands by 50.4% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 333,693 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,393,000 after buying an additional 111,801 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 156.1% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 591,373 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,240,000 after acquiring an additional 360,450 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 6.0% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 46,395 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $333,000 after acquiring an additional 2,622 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bloomin’ Brands by 123.1% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,299,778 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,489,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268,988 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Bloomin’ Brands by 4.3% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,048,497 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,518,000 after acquiring an additional 43,329 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on BLMN shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Bloomin’ Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $6.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Bloomin’ Brands from $6.00 to $8.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $9.00 price objective on shares of Bloomin’ Brands in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Bloomin’ Brands from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $8.53.

Bloomin’ Brands Stock Up 4.4%

Bloomin’ Brands stock opened at $9.04 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $773.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.16, a PEG ratio of 6.91 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 0.26 and a quick ratio of 0.19. Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $5.19 and a fifty-two week high of $9.27.

Bloomin’ Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The restaurant operator reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Bloomin’ Brands had a net margin of 0.55% and a return on equity of 28.00%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. Bloomin’ Brands has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.750-0.900 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.270-0.320 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. will post 0.86 EPS for the current year.

About Bloomin’ Brands

Bloomin’ Brands, Inc engages in the ownership, operation and franchising of casual dining restaurants worldwide. The company’s portfolio includes five full-service restaurant chains: Outback Steakhouse, known for its Australian-inspired steakhouse concept; Carrabba’s Italian Grill, offering Italian-American cuisine; Bonefish Grill, specializing in handcrafted seafood dishes; Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, focusing on premium steak and wine experiences; and Aussie Grill by Outback, featuring a streamlined menu of signature items.