BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Receives $56.88 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $56.8750.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. William Blair raised shares of BJ’s Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Benchmark increased their price objective on BJ’s Restaurants from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Mizuho set a $74.00 target price on BJ’s Restaurants in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Citigroup boosted their target price on BJ’s Restaurants from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, DA Davidson set a $65.00 price target on BJ’s Restaurants in a research note on Friday, July 31st.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:BJRI opened at $59.89 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.30. BJ’s Restaurants has a 12 month low of $28.46 and a 12 month high of $74.60. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $64.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.54.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.04. BJ’s Restaurants had a net margin of 2.86% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The company had revenue of $388.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $377.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that BJ’s Restaurants will post 2.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at BJ’s Restaurants

In other BJ’s Restaurants news, EVP Brian Krakower sold 7,341 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.17, for a total transaction of $405,002.97. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 4,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $260,457.57. The trade was a 60.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kendra Miller sold 2,978 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.80, for a total transaction of $207,864.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 25,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,788,345.80. The trade was a 10.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 124,077 shares of company stock valued at $7,676,952. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of BJ’s Restaurants

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at $220,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 5,787.3% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,161,982 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $70,579,000 after purchasing an additional 1,142,245 shares during the period. AXQ Capital LP bought a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants in the second quarter valued at about $204,000. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 141.5% in the second quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 28,960 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after buying an additional 16,970 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 13.7% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 31,997 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,943,000 after buying an additional 3,857 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

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.