BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Trading Up 9.5%

Shares of BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) were up 9.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $36.35 and last traded at $36.35. Approximately 89,884 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 391,595 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.20.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BJRI shares. TheStreet raised BJ’s Restaurants from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on BJ’s Restaurants from $37.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 5th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup upped their target price on BJ’s Restaurants from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.30.

BJ’s Restaurants Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $846.61 million, a PE ratio of 43.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 2.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $35.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.97.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The restaurant operator reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $323.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $331.03 million. BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 5.45% and a net margin of 1.47%. BJ’s Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.17 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at BJ’s Restaurants

In other BJ’s Restaurants news, major shareholder Fund 1 Investments, Llc sold 242,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.53, for a total transaction of $8,598,260.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,326,476 shares in the company, valued at $82,659,692.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, VP Alex Puchner sold 7,713 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.25, for a total transaction of $295,022.25. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,222 shares in the company, valued at approximately $467,491.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Fund 1 Investments, Llc sold 242,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.53, for a total value of $8,598,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,326,476 shares in the company, valued at $82,659,692.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of BJ’s Restaurants

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 49,197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,772,000 after purchasing an additional 1,288 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in BJ’s Restaurants by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 18,085 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $652,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 40.8% in the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 92,176 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,319,000 after acquiring an additional 26,722 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 47.8% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 42,779 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,541,000 after purchasing an additional 13,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 64,618 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,327,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

About BJ’s Restaurants

BJ's Restaurants, Inc owns and operates casual dining restaurants in the United States. Its restaurants offer pizzas, craft and other beers, appetizers, entrées, pastas, sandwiches, specialty salads, and desserts. The company was formerly known as Chicago Pizza & Brewery, Inc and changed its name to BJ's Restaurants, Inc in August 2004.