Legal & General Group Plc Purchases Shares of 44,414 BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. $BJRI

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 44,414 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $2,697,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BJRI. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 187.7% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 699 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 1,618.3% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,031 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 971 shares during the period. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in BJ’s Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in BJ’s Restaurants by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,305 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ’s Restaurants

In related news, Director Noah Elbogen sold 7,535 shares of BJ’s Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.14, for a total transaction of $528,504.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 71,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,025,881.70. This trade represents a 9.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gregory Lynds sold 21,704 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.81, for a total transaction of $1,493,452.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 24,770 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,704,423.70. This trade represents a 46.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 124,077 shares of company stock worth $7,676,952 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BJRI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded BJ’s Restaurants from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. William Blair upgraded BJ’s Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research raised BJ’s Restaurants from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, DA Davidson set a $65.00 price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a report on Friday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.88.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BJRI opened at $59.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $64.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.54. BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.46 and a fifty-two week high of $74.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.30.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.04. BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 2.86%.The company had revenue of $388.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $377.07 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. will post 2.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.