BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $38.00.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Gordon Haskett raised shares of BJ’s Restaurants from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $36.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Oppenheimer cut shares of BJ’s Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th.

BJ’s Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of BJRI opened at $34.52 on Thursday. BJ’s Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $27.61 and a fifty-two week high of $38.87. The company has a market capitalization of $787.64 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 2.10. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.35.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $325.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $324.97 million. BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 7.98% and a net margin of 2.24%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.16) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that BJ’s Restaurants will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at BJ’s Restaurants

In other news, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 2,313 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.60, for a total transaction of $82,342.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $190,068.40. This trade represents a 30.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 4.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BJ’s Restaurants

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Emerald Advisers LLC boosted its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 0.7% during the third quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 569,221 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $18,534,000 after acquiring an additional 4,009 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 27.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 529,116 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $18,360,000 after acquiring an additional 114,008 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 493,006 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,056,000 after purchasing an additional 5,075 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 342,436 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $11,150,000 after purchasing an additional 40,284 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 528.9% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 155,383 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,059,000 after purchasing an additional 130,676 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

BJ’s Restaurants Company Profile

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 under brand name Pizookie. The company was formerly known as Chicago Pizza & Brewery, Inc and changed its name to BJ’s Restaurants, Inc in August 2004.