BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Trading 3.5% Higher – Should You Buy?

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) rose 3.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $33.78 and last traded at $33.60. Approximately 119,918 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 65% from the average daily volume of 342,080 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.47.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Wedbush upped their price target on BJ’s Restaurants from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Gordon Haskett upgraded BJ’s Restaurants from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $36.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded BJ’s Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.40.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $35.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.83. The firm has a market cap of $769.32 million, a PE ratio of 49.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 2.10.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The restaurant operator reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.12. BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 1.23%. The company had revenue of $344.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $336.48 million. Research analysts forecast that BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of BJ’s Restaurants

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BJRI. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 75.9% during the 3rd quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 82,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,696,000 after purchasing an additional 35,722 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in BJ’s Restaurants during the third quarter worth $4,310,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $574,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the 3rd quarter worth $2,064,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 130,676 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

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 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.