BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $56.40 and last traded at $56.33, with a volume of 338400 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $54.62.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BJRI. Citigroup dropped their price objective on BJ’s Restaurants from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings lowered BJ’s Restaurants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on BJ’s Restaurants in a report on Friday, March 6th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on BJ’s Restaurants from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $44.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.00.

BJ’s Restaurants Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.27. The company has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of 28.45, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.31.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The restaurant operator reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $358.12 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $356.97 million. BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 13.48% and a net margin of 3.15%.The firm’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at BJ’s Restaurants

In other BJ’s Restaurants news, Director Lea Anne Ottinger sold 2,792 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.50, for a total value of $149,372.00. Following the sale, the director owned 39,701 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,124,003.50. This trade represents a 6.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Noah A. Elbogen sold 4,652 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total value of $251,208.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 76,235 shares in the company, valued at $4,116,690. This represents a 5.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 63,817 shares of company stock worth $3,384,688 over the last quarter. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of BJ’s Restaurants

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in BJ’s Restaurants by 23.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,362,763 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $102,665,000 after acquiring an additional 640,648 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,662,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 886,918 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $27,078,000 after purchasing an additional 62,321 shares during the last quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $1,148,000. Finally, Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC grew its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 50.0% during the third quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 411,750 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $12,571,000 after purchasing an additional 137,283 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

BJ’s Restaurants Company Profile

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc is a publicly traded casual dining chain known for its deep?dish pizzas, California?style thin crust offerings and in?house craft beer selections. Operating under the BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse brand, the company combines a microbrewery concept with full?service dining, offering an extensive menu that includes appetizers, salads, pasta dishes, sandwiches and the signature Pizookie dessert.

Founded in 1978 in Orange County, California, BJ’s Restaurants began as BJ’s Chicago Pizzeria, bringing a Chicago?style pizza experience to the West Coast.