Zacks Research Downgrades BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) to Hold

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

BJRI has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Benchmark raised their price objective on BJ’s Restaurants from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. DA Davidson set a $65.00 price objective on BJ’s Restaurants in a report on Friday, July 31st. William Blair upgraded BJ’s Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Mizuho set a $74.00 price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.88.

BJ’s Restaurants Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of BJRI stock opened at $59.60 on Tuesday. BJ’s Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $28.46 and a fifty-two week high of $74.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.29. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.69. The company has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.87, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.30.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $388.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $377.07 million. BJ’s Restaurants had a net margin of 2.86% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. Research analysts forecast that BJ’s Restaurants will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BJ’s Restaurants news, EVP Kendra Miller sold 2,978 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.80, for a total transaction of $207,864.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 25,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,788,345.80. This trade represents a 10.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director C Richmond acquired 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $61.05 per share, for a total transaction of $30,525.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 36,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,228,325. The trade was a 1.39% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 67,784 shares of company stock valued at $4,648,326. 2.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BJRI. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants during the second quarter worth $200,006,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 30,684 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 73.5% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 324,588 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $11,393,000 after purchasing an additional 137,511 shares during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $5,724,000. Finally, Meros Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth about $8,715,047. 99.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BJ’s Restaurants Company Profile

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc operates casual dining restaurants under the BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse brand. Its restaurants offer a broad menu that includes deep-dish and tavern-style pizzas, burgers, salads, sandwiches, pasta, entrees, desserts and other American-style cuisine.

The company is also known for its handcrafted beer program, which includes a range of house-brewed beers served alongside its food offerings. BJ’s restaurants generally combine full-service dining with a casual, family-friendly atmosphere and operate in locations across the United States.

BJ’s Restaurants traces its origins to 1978, when its first location opened in Southern California.