BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Shares Gap Down - Should You Sell?

Shares of BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $36.65, but opened at $35.36. BJ's Restaurants shares last traded at $36.44, with a volume of 24,961 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BJRI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of BJ's Restaurants in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler raised their price target on BJ's Restaurants from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered shares of BJ's Restaurants from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $38.33.

BJ's Restaurants Stock Down 3.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market cap of $804.07 million, a PE ratio of 28.19, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 2.10. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $35.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.98.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 firm had revenue of $325.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $324.97 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.16) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that BJ's Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.26 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ's Restaurants

In other news, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 2,313 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 5,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $190,068.40. This represents a 30.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 4.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of BJ's Restaurants

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BJRI. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its stake 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 lifted its holdings in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC now owns 29,089 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,009,000 after buying an additional 780 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 27.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 529,116 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $18,360,000 after purchasing an additional 114,008 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in BJ's Restaurants during the second quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd grew its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 3.7% during 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. Hedge funds and other 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.