NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Bloomin' Brands (BLMN) are down 2.44% to $24.42 in afternoon trading Wednesday after Credit Suisse initiated coverage with a "neutral" rating and a $26 price target. 

Bloomin' Brands is a casual dining restaurant company with a portfolio of restaurant concepts

"The Bloomin' Brands story makes a lot of sense on paper, but actual results have been more mixed," analysts said, adding that EBIT margins are approximately 150bps below peers in the casual dining space.

In addition, Bloomin' sees cost savings opportunities in the range of around $50 million per year to try to close this gap, the firm noted.

"However, these savings are not flowing to the bottom line due to offsetting investments, rising beef prices, and disappointing results in portions of the portfolio," analysts said, adding that although 2015 looks like a bounce-back year, they prefer to wait for a better entry point.

Analysts anticipate 2015 fiscal year earnings of $1.28 per share.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates BLOOMIN' BRANDS INC as a Buy with a ratings score of B-. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate BLOOMIN' BRANDS INC (BLMN) a BUY. This is driven by a number of strengths, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. Among the primary strengths of the company is its revenue growth. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income."

You can view the full analysis from the report here: BLMN Ratings Report

BLMN

data by

YCharts