William Blair Upgrades BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) to “Outperform”

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) was upgraded by investment analysts at William Blair from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Several other brokerages have also commented on BJRI. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $44.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $42.00 to $38.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of BJ’s Restaurants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on BJ’s Restaurants from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on BJ’s Restaurants from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.25.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Up 3.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:BJRI opened at $62.47 on Friday. BJ’s Restaurants has a 1 year low of $28.46 and a 1 year high of $63.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of 31.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $51.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.25.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The restaurant operator reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $358.12 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $356.97 million. BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 13.48% and a net margin of 3.15%.BJ’s Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that BJ’s Restaurants will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kendra D. Miller sold 19,261 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.60, for a total transaction of $1,070,911.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 28,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,590,104.40. This represents a 40.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brian S. Krakower sold 7,341 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.17, for a total transaction of $405,002.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 4,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $260,457.57. This trade represents a 60.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 63,817 shares of company stock valued at $3,384,688. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 187.7% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 699 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 1,618.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,031 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 971 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 39.3% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 939 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 14.5% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,305 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

BJ’s Restaurants Company Profile

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc is a publicly traded casual dining chain known for its deep‐dish pizzas, California‐style thin crust offerings and in‐house craft beer selections. Operating under the BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse brand, the company combines a microbrewery concept with full‐service dining, offering an extensive menu that includes appetizers, salads, pasta dishes, sandwiches and the signature Pizookie dessert.

Founded in 1978 in Orange County, California, BJ’s Restaurants began as BJ’s Chicago Pizzeria, bringing a Chicago‐style pizza experience to the West Coast.