BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Shares Purchased by Cibc World Markets Corp

Cibc World Markets Corp increased its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 126,771 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,771 shares during the quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp’s holdings in BJ’s Restaurants were worth $4,454,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 1,251.3% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,297 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 5,831 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 198.2% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 11,603 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 7,712 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in BJ’s Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,502,000. Arizona State Retirement System acquired a new position in BJ’s Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $200,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in BJ’s Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $574,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BJRI opened at $32.47 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.04 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $737.65 million, a PE ratio of 47.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 2.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $35.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.83. BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.61 and a 1 year high of $41.72.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on BJRI. Barclays upped their target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Gordon Haskett raised shares of BJ’s Restaurants from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $36.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut shares of BJ’s Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BJ’s Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.40.

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.