BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) PT Raised to $45.00 at Benchmark

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) had its price target increased by Benchmark from $41.00 to $45.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. TheStreet raised shares of BJ’s Restaurants from a c rating to a b- rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Wedbush reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Stephens restated an equal weight rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Barclays lifted their target price on BJ’s Restaurants from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BJ’s Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $38.30.

BJ’s Restaurants Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ BJRI opened at $34.64 on Friday. BJ’s Restaurants has a 52 week low of $21.64 and a 52 week high of $38.76. The stock has a market cap of $809.88 million, a P/E ratio of 34.64, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 2.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.85.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.17. BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 6.51% and a net margin of 1.80%. The business had revenue of $337.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $335.35 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that BJ’s Restaurants will post 1.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BJ’s Restaurants news, major shareholder Fund 1 Investments, Llc sold 242,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 2,326,476 shares in the company, valued at $82,659,692.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other BJ’s Restaurants news, VP Alex Puchner sold 7,713 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were 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 directly owns 12,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $467,491.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Fund 1 Investments, Llc sold 242,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.53, for a total transaction of $8,598,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,326,476 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,659,692.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 20,337 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $736,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 15,315 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $554,000 after acquiring an additional 1,432 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co grew its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 10.8% in the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 6,487 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $235,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 49,197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,772,000 after purchasing an additional 1,288 shares during the period. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 40.8% during the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 92,176 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,319,000 after purchasing an additional 26,722 shares in the last quarter. 99.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.