BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $56.88

Shares of BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the eleven research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $57.12.

Several research firms have recently commented on BJRI. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Mizuho upgraded shares of BJ’s Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday. Zacks Research lowered shares of BJ’s Restaurants from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. William Blair raised shares of BJ’s Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $65.00 target price on BJ’s Restaurants in a report on Friday, July 31st.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of BJ’s Restaurants stock opened at $61.93 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $64.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.66. The firm has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.33. BJ’s Restaurants has a 12 month low of $28.46 and a 12 month high of $74.60.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.04. BJ’s Restaurants had a net margin of 2.86% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The company had revenue of $388.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $377.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that BJ’s Restaurants will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Gregory Lynds sold 25,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total value of $1,710,364.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,135,600.78. The trade was a 35.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director C Richmond purchased 753 shares of BJ’s Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $63.25 per share, with a total value of $47,627.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 35,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,245,375. This represents a 2.17% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 67,784 shares of company stock valued at $4,648,326. 2.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 5,341.1% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,047 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 2,991 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AXQ Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the second quarter valued at about $204,000. 99.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BJ’s Restaurants Company Profile

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc operates casual dining restaurants under the BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse brand. The company’s restaurants offer a broad menu that includes deep-dish pizza, burgers, sandwiches, salads, pasta, steaks, seafood, and other American-style entrees.

BJ’s is also known for its handcrafted beer and signature Pizookie dessert, a warm, freshly baked cookie typically served with ice cream. Its restaurants generally combine full-service dining with an in-house brewery or a selection of proprietary and seasonal beer offerings.

The company traces its history to 1978, when its first restaurant opened in Southern California.