Short Interest in BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Drops By 7.3%

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) saw a significant decrease in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,910,000 shares, a decrease of 7.3% from the June 30th total of 2,060,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 375,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.1 days. Currently, 9.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

BJ’s Restaurants Price Performance

NASDAQ:BJRI traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $31.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 413,663 shares, compared to its average volume of 396,184. BJ’s Restaurants has a 52-week low of $21.64 and a 52-week high of $38.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.03. The business’s 50-day moving average is $35.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.83. The company has a market capitalization of $738.34 million, a PE ratio of 31.58, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 2.13.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The restaurant operator reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.21. BJ’s Restaurants had a net margin of 2.19% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The firm had revenue of $349.93 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $349.18 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that BJ’s Restaurants will post 1.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ’s Restaurants

In other news, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.56, for a total value of $56,896.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $272,105.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 4.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BJRI. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 40.8% in the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 92,176 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,319,000 after buying an additional 26,722 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 21.0% in the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 296,176 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,716,000 after purchasing an additional 51,364 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 106,054 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 327,259 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $11,785,000 after buying an additional 4,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in BJ’s Restaurants by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,595,522 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $60,891,000 after buying an additional 8,763 shares during the last quarter. 99.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BJRI has been the topic of several research reports. Benchmark downgraded shares of BJ’s Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on BJ’s Restaurants from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.63.

About BJ’s Restaurants

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.