BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Given New $32.00 Price Target at Barclays

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) had its price objective decreased by analysts at Barclays from $35.00 to $32.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "underweight" rating on the restaurant operator's stock. Barclays's price objective indicates a potential downside of 5.85% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on BJRI. Benchmark downgraded BJ's Restaurants from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $43.00 price target on shares of BJ's Restaurants in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $38.00.

BJ's Restaurants Stock Performance

BJRI traded down $3.10 on Friday, reaching $33.99. The company had a trading volume of 999,622 shares, compared to its average volume of 389,950. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. BJ's Restaurants has a 1 year low of $26.25 and a 1 year high of $38.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $794.69 million, a PE ratio of 28.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 2.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $32.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.44.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $325.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $324.97 million. BJ's Restaurants had a net margin of 2.19% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.16) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that BJ's Restaurants will post 1.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ's Restaurants

In other news, CEO C Bradford Richmond bought 2,500 shares of BJ's Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was bought at an average price 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $497,007. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 4.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ's Restaurants

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. 272 Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of BJ's Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,173,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its holdings in BJ's Restaurants by 21.0% during the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 296,176 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $10,716,000 after purchasing an additional 51,364 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in BJ's Restaurants during the second quarter worth $3,250,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in BJ's Restaurants in the second quarter valued at $187,000. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 6.2% in the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 142,622 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $4,949,000 after buying an additional 8,323 shares in the last quarter. 99.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.