BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $38.30.

Several brokerages have weighed in on BJRI. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Benchmark raised their target price on BJ’s Restaurants from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer upped their price target on BJ’s Restaurants from $37.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective on BJ’s Restaurants from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on BJ’s Restaurants from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Fund 1 Investments, Llc sold 242,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,326,476 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,659,692.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other BJ’s Restaurants news, VP Alex Puchner sold 7,713 shares of BJ’s Restaurants stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,222 shares in the company, valued at $467,491.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Fund 1 Investments, Llc sold 242,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was 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 directly owns 2,326,476 shares in the company, valued at $82,659,692.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 141.0% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 743 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $95,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in BJ’s Restaurants in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $67,000. Finally, C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. bought a new position in BJ’s Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $95,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Up 5.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BJRI opened at $34.68 on Friday. BJ’s Restaurants has a 12-month low of $21.64 and a 12-month high of $38.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $34.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $810.82 million, a P/E ratio of 41.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 2.12.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.17. BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 5.45% and a net margin of 1.47%. The business had revenue of $337.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $335.35 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.15 EPS. BJ’s Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BJ’s Restaurants will post 1.22 earnings per share for the current year.

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.