BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) EVP Kendra Miller Sells 10,217 Shares of Stock

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) EVP Kendra Miller sold 10,217 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.31, for a total transaction of $708,140.27. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 28,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,982,196.69. The trade was a 26.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

BJ’s Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of BJ’s Restaurants stock opened at $69.55 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.44. BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.46 and a twelve month high of $74.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.29.

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

BJ’s Restaurants News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting BJ’s Restaurants this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Recent analyst actions remain supportive. Benchmark raised its price target from $68 to $80 and upgraded the stock to “Buy,” while William Blair moved BJRI to “Outperform.” Zacks also identified BJRI as a highly ranked value stock and included it among stocks benefiting from recent broker upgrades. Zacks value stock article Zacks broker upgrades article
• Positive Sentiment: The latest quarterly results exceeded expectations: earnings per share were $0.94 versus the $0.90 consensus estimate, while revenue of $388.9 million surpassed forecasts of $377.1 million and increased 6.4% year over year. These results provide fundamental support for BJRI, although EPS was below $0.97 in the prior-year quarter.
• Positive Sentiment: Several institutions increased their BJRI holdings during the first quarter, including Bank of America, which raised its position by 73.5%, and Royal Bank of Canada, which increased its stake by 238%. Institutional investors own approximately 99.95% of the shares.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst opinion remains cautious overall. BJRI has an average “Hold” recommendation, with five Holds and two Sells compared with four Buy or Strong Buy ratings. The consensus price target is $56.88, below recent trading levels, although individual targets range as high as $80. Average Hold recommendation article
• Negative Sentiment: Insiders have sold heavily as the stock trades near its 52-week high. EVP Gregory S. Lynds sold 21,704 shares on August 6 after selling 25,350 shares on August 3, reducing his holdings by 46.7% in the latest transaction. EVP Kendra D. Miller sold 10,217 shares on August 6 and another 2,978 shares on August 7, cutting her position by 10.4% in the latest sale. The transactions totaled roughly $4.1 million and may reinforce profit-taking concerns.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at $200,006,000. UBS Group AG boosted 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 worth $44,326,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237,383 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 2.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 48.8% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 67.3% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 388,779 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $11,869,000 after purchasing an additional 156,458 shares during the last quarter. 99.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BJRI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. William Blair raised BJ’s Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective 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. Zacks Research raised BJ’s Restaurants from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of BJ’s Restaurants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BJ’s Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.88.

About BJ’s Restaurants

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.