BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Rating Lowered to Market Perform at Oppenheimer

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Oppenheimer from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Piper Sandler raised 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 note on Monday, November 4th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of BJ's Restaurants in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $38.33.

BJ's Restaurants Trading Down 3.8 %

BJRI stock traded down $1.41 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $35.24. The company had a trading volume of 239,332 shares, compared to its average volume of 226,633. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $35.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.98. BJ's Restaurants has a 12 month low of $27.61 and a 12 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 stock has a market cap of $804.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.19, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 2.10.

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

Insider Activity

In other BJ's Restaurants news, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 2,313 shares of BJ's Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.60, for a total value of $82,342.80. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 4.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BJ's Restaurants

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quarry LP increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in BJ's Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. US Bancorp DE raised its position 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 valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its stake in BJ's Restaurants by 247.8% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,864 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 1,328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new position in BJ's Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $216,000. 99.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.