BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Given Outperform Rating at Wedbush

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by analysts at Wedbush in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $43.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock. Wedbush’s price target points to a potential upside of 21.23% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on BJRI. Benchmark increased their target price on BJ’s Restaurants from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.60.

BJ’s Restaurants Price Performance

BJ’s Restaurants stock opened at $35.47 on Tuesday. 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 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.53. The company has a market cap of $829.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.47, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 2.13.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last posted its 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. The firm had revenue of $337.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $335.35 million. BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 6.51% and a net margin of 1.80%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.15 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that BJ’s Restaurants will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ’s Restaurants

In other BJ’s Restaurants news, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.56, for a total transaction of $56,896.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,652 shares in the company, valued at $272,105.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants during the first quarter valued at about $45,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 141.0% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 743 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $95,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,545 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $200,000 after buying an additional 673 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $211,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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. The company was formerly known as Chicago Pizza & Brewery, Inc and changed its name to BJ's Restaurants, Inc in August 2004.