BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Stock Rated “Hold” by Sell-Side Brokerages

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $56.50.

BJRI has been the topic of several recent research reports. DA Davidson set a $65.00 price target on BJ’s Restaurants in a report on Friday, July 31st. William Blair upgraded BJ’s Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Mizuho raised BJ’s Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $74.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Down 0.8%

NASDAQ BJRI opened at $57.46 on Wednesday. BJ’s Restaurants has a 12 month low of $28.46 and a 12 month high of $74.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $60.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.64.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $388.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $377.07 million. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BJ’s Restaurants will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ’s Restaurants

In related news, EVP Kendra Miller sold 10,217 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.31, for a total value of $708,140.27. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 28,599 shares in the company, valued at $1,982,196.69. The trade was a 26.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Gregory Lynds sold 25,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total transaction of $1,710,364.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,474 shares in the company, valued at $3,135,600.78. This represents a 35.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 67,784 shares of company stock valued at $4,648,326. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BJ’s Restaurants

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BJRI. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants during the second quarter worth $200,006,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 2.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,114,685 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $39,125,000 after purchasing an additional 30,684 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 73.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 324,588 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $11,393,000 after acquiring an additional 137,511 shares in the last quarter. Meros Investment Management LP purchased a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the second quarter valued at $8,715,047. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at $7,516,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

About BJ’s Restaurants

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc (NASDAQ: BJRI) operates and develops casual dining restaurants under the BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse brand. Its restaurants offer a broad menu centered on deep-dish pizza, along with appetizers, salads, sandwiches, burgers, entrees, desserts and other American-style dishes.

The company is also known for producing and serving craft beer, including its proprietary BJ’s beers, at many of its locations. Its restaurants typically combine full-service dining with a brewery-inspired atmosphere and offer dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering services, depending on the location.

BJ’s traces its origins to 1978, when the first restaurant opened in Southern California.