BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $57.12 According to Analysts

Shares of BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the eleven research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $56.50.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research downgraded BJ’s Restaurants from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. Citigroup cut their price objective on BJ’s Restaurants from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings raised BJ’s Restaurants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, October 2nd. DA Davidson set a $65.00 target price on BJ’s Restaurants in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Mizuho raised BJ’s Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $74.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 1st.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Down 3.9%

BJ’s Restaurants stock opened at $56.51 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. BJ’s Restaurants has a 1-year low of $28.46 and a 1-year high of $74.60.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $388.89 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $377.07 million. BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 2.86%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that BJ’s Restaurants will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at BJ’s Restaurants

In other news, EVP Gregory Lynds sold 25,350 shares of BJ’s Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total transaction of $1,710,364.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,135,600.78. This trade represents a 35.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kendra Miller sold 10,217 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.31, for a total transaction of $708,140.27. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 28,599 shares in the company, valued at $1,982,196.69. This trade represents a 26.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 67,784 shares of company stock valued at $4,648,326. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 34.8% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 774 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 275.9% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,936 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 1,421 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new position in BJ’s Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $505,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in BJ’s Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System acquired a new position in BJ’s Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth $275,000. Institutional investors own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

About BJ’s Restaurants

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc (NASDAQ: BJRI) operates and develops casual dining restaurants under the BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse brand. Its restaurants offer a broad menu centered on deep-dish pizza, along with appetizers, salads, sandwiches, burgers, entrees, desserts and other American-style dishes.

The company is also known for producing and serving craft beer, including its proprietary BJ’s beers, at many of its locations. Its restaurants typically combine full-service dining with a brewery-inspired atmosphere and offer dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering services, depending on the location.

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