Insider Selling: BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) EVP Sells $91,078.00 in Stock

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) EVP Brian Krakower sold 2,600 shares of BJ’s Restaurants stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.03, for a total value of $91,078.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,062 shares in the company, valued at $177,321.86. This represents a 33.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Performance

NASDAQ BJRI opened at $35.06 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $743.27 million, a PE ratio of 16.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.32. BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.46 and a twelve month high of $47.02.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The restaurant operator reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.06. BJ’s Restaurants had a net margin of 3.49% and a return on equity of 13.82%. The firm had revenue of $355.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $353.71 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. BJ’s Restaurants’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BJRI. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 23.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,362,763 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $102,665,000 after buying an additional 640,648 shares during the period. UBS Group AG boosted its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 576.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,451,883 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $44,326,000 after buying an additional 1,237,383 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,084,001 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $42,709,000 after acquiring an additional 23,513 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 48.8% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 935,375 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,557,000 after acquiring an additional 306,930 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 7.6% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 886,918 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $27,078,000 after acquiring an additional 62,321 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BJRI shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a report on Friday, March 6th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Mizuho boosted their target price on BJ’s Restaurants from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Benchmark upped their price target on BJ’s Restaurants from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BJ’s Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.38.

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.