BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Trading Up 3.5% – Here’s What Happened

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI)’s stock price shot up 3.5% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $33.78 and last traded at $33.60. 119,918 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 342,080 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.47.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BJRI. Barclays upped their price target on BJ’s Restaurants from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Wedbush increased their target price on BJ’s Restaurants from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Oppenheimer cut BJ’s Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded BJ’s Restaurants from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $36.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.40.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $35.43 and a 200-day moving average of $34.85. The firm has a market cap of $773.55 million, a P/E ratio of 50.07, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 2.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The restaurant operator reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.12. BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 1.23%. The firm had revenue of $344.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $336.48 million. Research analysts predict that BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 36,076 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,268,000 after buying an additional 5,722 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $1,050,000. ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $203,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 837,031 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $29,409,000 after purchasing an additional 161,495 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 45.4% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 243,267 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $8,547,000 after purchasing an additional 75,936 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

BJ’s Restaurants Company Profile

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 under brand name Pizookie. The company was formerly known as Chicago Pizza & Brewery, Inc and changed its name to BJ’s Restaurants, Inc in August 2004.