BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Earns "Outperform" Rating from Wedbush

Wedbush restated their outperform rating on shares of BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Free Report) in a research report report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Wedbush currently has a $43.00 target price on the restaurant operator's stock.

BJRI has been the topic of several other research reports. Barclays cut their price target on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Benchmark cut shares of BJ's Restaurants from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $38.00.

BJ's Restaurants Trading Down 8.4 %

NASDAQ:BJRI traded down $3.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $33.99. The company had a trading volume of 1,044,614 shares, compared to its average volume of 390,162. The company has a market capitalization of $794.69 million, a PE ratio of 28.71, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 has a 52 week low of $26.25 and a 52 week high of $38.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $325.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.97 million. BJ's Restaurants had a net margin of 2.19% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The business's revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.16) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that BJ's Restaurants will post 1.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at BJ's Restaurants

In related news, CEO C Bradford Richmond purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $29.40 per share, with a total value of $73,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 16,905 shares in the company, valued at $497,007. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 4.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ's Restaurants

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BJRI. 272 Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,173,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 21.0% during the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 296,176 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $10,716,000 after purchasing an additional 51,364 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,250,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at about $187,000. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 142,622 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $4,949,000 after purchasing an additional 8,323 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.