BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Hold" by the eight brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $38.00.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of BJ's Restaurants from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Gordon Haskett raised shares of BJ's Restaurants from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $36.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of BJ's Restaurants in a research note on Friday, November 1st.

BJ's Restaurants Trading Up 0.2 %

BJRI stock traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $35.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 177,271 shares, compared to its average volume of 216,754. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $35.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.99. The stock has a market cap of $805.67 million, a PE ratio of 28.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 2.10. BJ's Restaurants has a 52 week low of $27.61 and a 52 week 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.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.15). BJ's Restaurants had a return on equity of 7.98% and a net margin of 2.24%. The company had revenue of $325.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.97 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.16) earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BJ's Restaurants will post 1.26 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 2,313 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were 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 directly owns 5,339 shares in the company, valued at $190,068.40. This represents a 30.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 4.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of BJ's Restaurants

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 247.8% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,864 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328 shares during the last quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in BJ's Restaurants by 2.8% during the second quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC now owns 29,089 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,009,000 after buying an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 114,008 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in BJ's Restaurants in the second quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd grew its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 29,499 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,024,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.95% of the company's stock.

About BJ's Restaurants

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.