BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Short Interest Down 7.4% in September

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,890,000 shares, a drop of 7.4% from the August 31st total of 2,040,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 432,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.4 days. Currently, 9.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

BJ’s Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BJRI traded up $0.69 during trading on Monday, hitting $32.66. The company had a trading volume of 295,692 shares, compared to its average volume of 393,506. The company has a market cap of $763.69 million, a P/E ratio of 32.85, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 2.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.35. The business’s 50-day moving average is $31.11 and its 200 day moving average is $33.45. BJ’s Restaurants has a 52 week low of $21.64 and a 52 week high of $38.87.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The restaurant operator reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $349.93 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $349.18 million. BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 2.19%. BJ’s Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that BJ’s Restaurants will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ’s Restaurants

In other BJ’s Restaurants news, CEO C Bradford Richmond acquired 2,500 shares of BJ’s Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $29.40 per share, for a total transaction of $73,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 16,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $497,007. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 4.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in BJ’s Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants in the 1st quarter worth about $45,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth about $57,000. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 247.8% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,864 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 1,328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at about $187,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on BJRI shares. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Benchmark lowered BJ’s Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.63.

BJ’s Restaurants Company Profile

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.