BJ’s Restaurants’ (BJRI) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at Wedbush

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by investment analysts at Wedbush in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $43.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock. Wedbush’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 15.93% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on BJRI. Barclays cut their price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Benchmark downgraded BJ’s Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.43.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of BJRI opened at $37.09 on Friday. BJ’s Restaurants has a 12 month low of $25.09 and a 12 month high of $38.87. The stock has a market cap of $867.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 2.12. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $32.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.16). BJ’s Restaurants had a net margin of 2.19% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The company had revenue of $325.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.97 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.16) EPS. BJ’s Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that BJ’s Restaurants will post 1.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at BJ’s Restaurants

In related news, CEO C Bradford Richmond purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $29.40 per share, with a total value of $73,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 16,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $497,007. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 4.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Emerald Advisers LLC raised its holdings in BJ’s Restaurants by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 569,221 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $18,534,000 after purchasing an additional 4,009 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 27.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 529,116 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $18,360,000 after buying an additional 114,008 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in BJ’s Restaurants by 2.0% in the second quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 302,152 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,485,000 after buying an additional 5,976 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in BJ’s Restaurants by 6.2% in the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 142,622 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,949,000 after buying an additional 8,323 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in BJ’s Restaurants in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,250,000. Institutional investors own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

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.