Legato Capital Management LLC Acquires New Holdings in BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. $BJRI

Legato Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 29,140 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,148,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 187.7% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 699 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 1,618.3% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,031 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 971 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 39.3% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 939 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 14.5% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,305 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 77.5% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,317 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Brian S. 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 transaction of $91,078.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,062 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $177,321.86. This trade represents a 33.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director C Bradford Richmond bought 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $35.10 per share, with a total value of $42,120.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 16,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $586,170. The trade was a 7.74% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have purchased 3,200 shares of company stock valued at $110,670 in the last three months. 4.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BJ’s Restaurants News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting BJ’s Restaurants this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised its FY2026 EPS estimate to $2.19 from $2.18 and nudged Q2 2026 EPS to $0.90 from $0.89, signaling slightly better expected profitability for BJ’s Restaurants. BJRI stock report
• Positive Sentiment: The firm also increased its Q4 2026 EPS estimate to $0.65 from $0.63, while keeping other forward estimates generally stable to slightly improved, which may be viewed favorably by investors. BJRI stock report
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks trimmed its Q1 2027 estimate to $0.63 from $0.68 and lowered FY2028 to $2.68 from $2.78, but those longer-term changes are offset by the near-term upgrades and are less likely to drive today’s move on their own. BJRI stock report

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BJRI. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $44.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $42.00 to $38.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of BJ’s Restaurants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, DA Davidson began coverage on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 6th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BJ’s Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.00.

BJ’s Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BJRI opened at $44.56 on Monday. BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.46 and a twelve month high of $47.02. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.28. The company has a market capitalization of $936.65 million, a PE ratio of 22.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The restaurant operator reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.04). BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 13.48% and a net margin of 3.15%.The firm had revenue of $358.12 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $356.97 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. BJ’s Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

About BJ’s Restaurants

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.