BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Upgraded at Zacks Research

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

BJRI has been the topic of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of BJ’s Restaurants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Citigroup upped their price objective on BJ’s Restaurants from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. William Blair upgraded BJ’s Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Benchmark upped their price target on BJ’s Restaurants from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on BJ’s Restaurants from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BJ’s Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.88.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Down 1.3%

BJRI stock opened at $67.38 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $57.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.94. BJ’s Restaurants has a 12 month low of $28.46 and a 12 month high of $74.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.32.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $388.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $377.07 million. BJ’s Restaurants had a net margin of 2.86% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BJ’s Restaurants will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Lea Anne Ottinger sold 2,792 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.50, for a total value of $149,372.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 39,701 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,124,003.50. This trade represents a 6.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kendra D. Miller sold 19,261 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.60, for a total value of $1,070,911.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 28,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,590,104.40. The trade was a 40.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 63,817 shares of company stock valued at $3,384,688. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of BJ’s Restaurants

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BJRI. UBS Group AG increased its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 576.9% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,451,883 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $44,326,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237,383 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 2.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,114,685 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $39,125,000 after purchasing an additional 30,684 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 48.8% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 935,375 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,557,000 after purchasing an additional 306,930 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 67.3% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 388,779 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $11,869,000 after purchasing an additional 156,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 385,230 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $15,178,000 after buying an additional 30,269 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

BJ’s Restaurants Company Profile

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc is a publicly traded casual dining chain known for its deep‐dish pizzas, California‐style thin crust offerings and in‐house craft beer selections. Operating under the BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse brand, the company combines a microbrewery concept with full‐service dining, offering an extensive menu that includes appetizers, salads, pasta dishes, sandwiches and the signature Pizookie dessert.

Founded in 1978 in Orange County, California, BJ’s Restaurants began as BJ’s Chicago Pizzeria, bringing a Chicago‐style pizza experience to the West Coast.