BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $38.00.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BJRI. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Gordon Haskett raised BJ’s Restaurants from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $36.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler upped their price target on BJ’s Restaurants from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays increased their price target on BJ’s Restaurants from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered shares of BJ’s Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Performance

NASDAQ BJRI opened at $35.31 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $35.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $805.67 million, a P/E ratio of 28.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 2.10. BJ’s Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $27.61 and a fifty-two week high of $38.87.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.15). BJ’s Restaurants had a net margin of 2.24% and a return on equity of 7.98%. The firm had revenue of $325.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $324.97 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.16) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that BJ’s Restaurants will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at BJ’s Restaurants

In other news, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 2,313 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.60, for a total value of $82,342.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $190,068.40. This represents a 30.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 4.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BJ’s Restaurants

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Emerald Advisers LLC raised its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 569,221 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $18,534,000 after acquiring an additional 4,009 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 27.5% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 529,116 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $18,360,000 after purchasing an additional 114,008 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 493,006 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,056,000 after purchasing an additional 5,075 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 13.3% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 342,436 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $11,150,000 after purchasing an additional 40,284 shares during the period. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC grew its position in 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 valued at $5,059,000 after buying 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.