BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Price Target Raised to $36.00

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) had its target price lifted by Barclays from $33.00 to $36.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

BJRI has been the subject of a number of other reports. Oppenheimer raised their price target on BJ’s Restaurants from $37.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Wedbush reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Stephens reissued an equal weight rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, TheStreet raised BJ’s Restaurants from a c rating to a b- rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $38.30.

BJ’s Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of BJ’s Restaurants stock opened at $34.68 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $810.82 million, a PE ratio of 34.68, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 2.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $34.52 and a 200 day moving average of $32.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. BJ’s Restaurants has a 12 month low of $21.64 and a 12 month high of $38.76.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.17. BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 6.56% and a net margin of 1.80%. The firm had revenue of $337.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $335.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.15 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that BJ’s Restaurants will post 1.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ’s Restaurants

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 15,315 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 1,432 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 10.8% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 6,487 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $235,000 after buying an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 49,197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,772,000 after acquiring an additional 1,288 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 40.8% in the 4th quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 92,176 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,319,000 after acquiring an additional 26,722 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 298.7% during the 4th quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 141,556 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,097,000 after acquiring an additional 106,054 shares during the period. 99.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.