BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. DA Davidson set a $65.00 price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research report on Friday. Mizuho set a $74.00 target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a report on Friday. William Blair raised shares of BJ’s Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Benchmark increased their target price on BJ’s Restaurants from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on BJ’s Restaurants from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.88.

BJ’s Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BJRI opened at $67.38 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $57.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.94. The company has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a PE ratio of 36.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.32. BJ’s Restaurants has a twelve month low of $28.46 and a twelve month high of $74.60.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.04. BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 2.86%.The company had revenue of $388.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $377.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that BJ’s Restaurants will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at BJ’s Restaurants

In other news, EVP Kendra D. Miller sold 19,261 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.60, for a total transaction of $1,070,911.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 28,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,590,104.40. The trade was a 40.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lea Anne Ottinger sold 2,792 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.50, for a total value of $149,372.00. Following the sale, the director owned 39,701 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,124,003.50. This represents a 6.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 63,817 shares of company stock worth $3,384,688. 2.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. UBS Group AG raised its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 576.9% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,451,883 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $44,326,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237,383 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,114,685 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $39,125,000 after purchasing an additional 30,684 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 48.8% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 935,375 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $28,557,000 after purchasing an additional 306,930 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 67.3% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 388,779 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $11,869,000 after purchasing an additional 156,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 385,230 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $15,178,000 after purchasing an additional 30,269 shares in the last quarter. 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.