Short Interest in BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Rises By 13.3%

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,300,000 shares, an increase of 13.3% from the March 15th total of 2,030,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 376,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.1 days. Currently, 10.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Performance

BJRI traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $32.69. 99,336 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 377,994. The stock has a market capitalization of $764.95 million, a P/E ratio of 39.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 2.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $35.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.84. BJ’s Restaurants has a 52-week low of $21.64 and a 52-week high of $38.76.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The restaurant operator reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $323.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $331.03 million. BJ’s Restaurants had a net margin of 1.47% and a return on equity of 5.45%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.17 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BJ’s Restaurants will post 1.23 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ’s Restaurants

In other BJ’s Restaurants news, major shareholder Fund 1 Investments, Llc sold 242,000 shares of BJ’s Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.53, for a total transaction of $8,598,260.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,326,476 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,659,692.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other BJ’s Restaurants news, major shareholder Fund 1 Investments, Llc sold 242,000 shares of BJ’s Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.53, for a total transaction of $8,598,260.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,326,476 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,659,692.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Alex Puchner sold 7,713 shares of BJ’s Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.25, for a total value of $295,022.25. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,222 shares in the company, valued at $467,491.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth $41,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 141.0% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 743 shares in the last quarter. 99.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on BJRI shares. TheStreet raised BJ’s Restaurants from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup boosted their price target on BJ’s Restaurants from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Barclays upped their price objective on BJ’s Restaurants from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on BJ’s Restaurants from $37.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.30.

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. The company was formerly known as Chicago Pizza & Brewery, Inc and changed its name to BJ's Restaurants, Inc in August 2004.