Short Interest in BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Declines By 6.4%

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,320,000 shares, a drop of 6.4% from the January 15th total of 1,410,000 shares. Currently, 6.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 245,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.4 days.

BJ’s Restaurants Price Performance

NASDAQ:BJRI traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $34.96. 244,077 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 194,912. BJ’s Restaurants has a 12-month low of $27.61 and a 12-month high of $38.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market cap of $797.79 million, a PE ratio of 27.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 2.11. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $35.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.99.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BJRI. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 75.9% during the third quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 82,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,696,000 after purchasing an additional 35,722 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants during the third quarter valued at approximately $4,310,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in BJ’s Restaurants in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,064,000. Olympiad Research LP bought a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the 3rd quarter worth $469,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 528.9% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 155,383 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,059,000 after buying an additional 130,676 shares during the last quarter. 99.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BJRI has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer lowered BJ’s Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of 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. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.80.

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.