BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Shares of BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $34.52, but opened at $36.54. BJ’s Restaurants shares last traded at $35.56, with a volume of 26,309 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $35.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.98. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $799.74 million, a P/E ratio of 28.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 2.10.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ’s Restaurants

In related news, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 2,313 shares of the business’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 owns 5,339 shares in the company, valued at $190,068.40. The trade was a 30.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 4.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position 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 worth $5,059,000 after purchasing an additional 130,676 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants in the third quarter valued at about $4,310,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in BJ’s Restaurants by 27.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Armistice Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $2,602,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the third quarter valued at about $2,064,000. 99.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.