BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Downgraded to “Market Perform” Rating by Oppenheimer

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) was downgraded by analysts at Oppenheimer from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Finviz reports.

BJRI has been the subject of a number of other reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.00.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of BJ’s Restaurants stock opened at $36.65 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $35.94 and a 200-day moving average of $33.97. BJ’s Restaurants has a 1-year low of $27.61 and a 1-year high of $38.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market cap of $836.24 million, a PE ratio of 29.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 2.10.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last released 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). The company had revenue of $325.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.97 million. BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 7.98% and a net margin of 2.24%. BJ’s Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.16) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BJ’s Restaurants will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ’s Restaurants

In other news, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 2,313 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.60, for a total transaction of $82,342.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,339 shares in the company, valued at $190,068.40. This represents a 30.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 4.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BJRI. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 764.9% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 813 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 719 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in BJ’s Restaurants during the second quarter worth $40,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 142.9% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,540 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 906 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 247.8% during the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,864 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 1,328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC bought a new position in BJ’s Restaurants during the third quarter worth $216,000. 99.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.