BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Short Interest Down 6.3% in December

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,490,000 shares, a decline of 6.3% from the December 15th total of 1,590,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 288,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.2 days. Currently, 7.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of BJ’s Restaurants from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $36.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Oppenheimer downgraded BJ’s Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BJ’s Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.00.

Insider Activity

In other BJ’s Restaurants news, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 2,313 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.60, for a total transaction of $82,342.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,339 shares in the company, valued at $190,068.40. The trade was a 30.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 4.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BJRI. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 11.4% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,760 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 693 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 764.9% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 813 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in BJ’s Restaurants by 142.9% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,540 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 27,284 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $888,000 after buying an additional 1,823 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 27.1% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,620 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $403,000 after acquiring an additional 2,477 shares during the last quarter. 99.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BJ’s Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of BJ’s Restaurants stock opened at $34.30 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $782.62 million, a PE ratio of 27.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 2.10. BJ’s Restaurants has a twelve month low of $27.61 and a twelve month high of $38.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $35.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.94.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.15). BJ’s Restaurants had a net margin of 2.24% and a return on equity of 7.98%. The business had revenue of $325.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $324.97 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.16) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that BJ’s Restaurants will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.