Short Interest in BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Decreases By 6.3%

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRIGet Free Report) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,490,000 shares, a decrease of 6.3% from the December 15th total of 1,590,000 shares. Approximately 7.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 288,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BJ’s Restaurants news, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 2,313 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.60, for a total value of $82,342.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $190,068.40. This trade represents a 30.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 4.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 764.9% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 813 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 142.9% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,540 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 906 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new position in BJ’s Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth $216,000. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth about $219,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in BJ’s Restaurants by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,760 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $220,000 after buying an additional 693 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

BJ’s Restaurants Trading Up 0.8 %

BJ’s Restaurants stock traded up $0.28 during trading on Friday, reaching $34.30. 182,835 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 237,823. BJ’s Restaurants has a 52-week low of $27.61 and a 52-week high of $38.87. The company has a market capitalization of $782.73 million, a P/E ratio of 27.44, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 2.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.95.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRIGet Free Report) last posted its 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 business had revenue of $325.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.97 million. BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 7.98% and a net margin of 2.24%. BJ’s Restaurants’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.16) EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that BJ’s Restaurants will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BJRI. Gordon Haskett raised BJ’s Restaurants from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays increased their price objective on BJ’s Restaurants from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer lowered BJ’s Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on BJ’s Restaurants from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.00.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on BJ’s Restaurants

About BJ’s Restaurants

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BJ’s Restaurants, Inc owns and operates casual dining restaurants in the United States. Its restaurants offer pizzas, craft and other beers, appetizers, entrĂ©es, 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.

Further Reading

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