BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Shares Bought by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Free Report) by 111.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 46,329 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 24,400 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 0.20% of BJ's Restaurants worth $1,608,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in BJ's Restaurants by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 11,800 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $409,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 20,337 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $736,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 6,487 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $235,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,021 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $689,000 after purchasing an additional 936 shares during the last quarter. 99.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO C Bradford Richmond purchased 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $29.40 per share, with a total value of $73,500.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 16,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at $497,007. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of BJ's Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Benchmark lowered shares of BJ's Restaurants from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $38.63.

BJ's Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BJRI traded up $1.28 during trading on Friday, hitting $34.68. 435,822 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 395,041. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $810.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 2.12. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $30.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.41. BJ's Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.64 and a 52-week high of $38.87.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The restaurant operator reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $349.93 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $349.18 million. BJ's Restaurants had a net margin of 2.19% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The business's quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that BJ's Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.42 EPS for the current year.

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.