BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,320,000 shares, a decrease of 6.4% from the January 15th total of 1,410,000 shares. Currently, 6.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 245,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.4 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BJRI. Barclays boosted 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, January 7th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of BJ’s Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of BJ’s Restaurants from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.80.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 837,031 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $29,409,000 after acquiring an additional 161,495 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 147.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 259,977 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $9,134,000 after purchasing an additional 155,109 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in BJ’s Restaurants by 528.9% in the third 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 period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in BJ’s Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,502,000. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants during the third quarter worth approximately $4,310,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BJRI opened at $36.13 on Wednesday. BJ’s Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $27.61 and a fifty-two week high of $38.87. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $35.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.02. The company has a market cap of $824.38 million, a P/E ratio of 28.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 2.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

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.