AlphaQuest LLC Purchases 4,508 Shares of BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. $BJRI

AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) by 71.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,804 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,508 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in BJ’s Restaurants were worth $482,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the 1st quarter worth about $254,000. Inspire Investing LLC bought a new position in BJ’s Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $842,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in BJ’s Restaurants during the first quarter worth approximately $310,000. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BJ’s Restaurants during the first quarter worth approximately $1,350,000. Finally, Sheets Smith Wealth Management bought a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants in the second quarter valued at approximately $494,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Performance

NASDAQ BJRI opened at $30.92 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $683.95 million, a P/E ratio of 25.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.34. BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.92 and a 12-month high of $47.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $31.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.05.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $365.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $362.74 million. BJ’s Restaurants had a net margin of 1.99% and a return on equity of 11.73%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. Analysts anticipate that BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BJRI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research downgraded BJ’s Restaurants from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of BJ’s Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 21st. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research report on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ’s Restaurants

In other BJ’s Restaurants news, SVP Heidi Rogers sold 4,116 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.36, for a total value of $145,541.76. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 7,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $252,611.84. The trade was a 36.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Alex Puchner sold 1,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.06, for a total transaction of $62,023.26. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 10,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $361,785.32. This represents a 14.63% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 15,458 shares of company stock valued at $545,656 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.90% 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.