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

BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Hold" from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $38.57.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Benchmark downgraded BJ's Restaurants from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price 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. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $43.00 price target on shares of BJ's Restaurants in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ's Restaurants

In related news, CEO C Bradford Richmond acquired 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $29.40 per share, for a total transaction of $73,500.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 16,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $497,007. The trade was a 17.36 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 2,313 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 5,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $190,068.40. The trade was a 30.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 4.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BJ's Restaurants

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BJRI. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 493,006 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $16,056,000 after acquiring an additional 5,075 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 131,876 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $4,294,000 after purchasing an additional 12,432 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 764.9% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 813 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of BJ's Restaurants in the 3rd quarter worth about $254,000. Finally, PDT Partners LLC bought a new position in BJ's Restaurants during the third quarter valued at about $440,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.95% of the company's stock.

BJ's Restaurants Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ BJRI traded down $0.37 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $33.82. The stock had a trading volume of 43,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 383,282. BJ's Restaurants has a twelve month low of $27.61 and a twelve month high of $38.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.35. The company's 50 day moving average price is $34.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.69. The firm has a market cap of $771.77 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 2.10.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $325.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.97 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.16) EPS. The business's revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BJ's Restaurants will post 1.26 EPS for the current year.

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.