BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Rating Lowered to Hold at Benchmark

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) was downgraded by investment analysts at Benchmark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Friday, Briefing.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on BJRI. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BJ’s Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.44.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Up 3.7 %

Shares of BJRI opened at $37.24 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $870.67 million, a P/E ratio of 37.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 2.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.35. BJ’s Restaurants has a 52 week low of $21.64 and a 52 week high of $38.87.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.17. BJ’s Restaurants had a net margin of 1.80% and a return on equity of 6.51%. The firm had revenue of $337.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $335.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.15 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that BJ’s Restaurants will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ’s Restaurants

In other BJ’s Restaurants news, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.56, for a total value of $56,896.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $272,105.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BJRI. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in BJ’s Restaurants by 0.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,595,522 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $60,891,000 after purchasing an additional 8,763 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System acquired a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $237,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $418,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,545 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $200,000 after buying an additional 673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 102.9% in the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 124,838 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,495,000 after buying an additional 63,299 shares during the last quarter. 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. The company was formerly known as Chicago Pizza & Brewery, Inc and changed its name to BJ's Restaurants, Inc in August 2004.