By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,490,000 shares, a decline of 6.3% from the December 31st total of 1,590,000 shares. Approximately 7.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 288,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.2 days.
BJ’s Restaurants Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ BJRI traded up $0.80 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $36.99. 224,270 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 209,237. BJ’s Restaurants has a 1-year low of $27.61 and a 1-year high of $38.87. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $844.11 million, a PE ratio of 29.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 2.11.
BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.15). BJ’s Restaurants had a net margin of 2.24% and a return on equity of 7.98%. The company had revenue of $325.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.97 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.16) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BJ’s Restaurants will post 1.26 EPS for the current year.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
BJRI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on BJ’s Restaurants from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer downgraded BJ’s Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised shares of BJ’s Restaurants from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $36.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BJ’s Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.00.
Read Our Latest Analysis on BJRI
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other BJ’s Restaurants news, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 2,313 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.60, for a total value of $82,342.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,339 shares in the company, valued at $190,068.40. This represents a 30.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 4.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants
Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Emerald Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 0.7% in the third quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 569,221 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $18,534,000 after purchasing an additional 4,009 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 493,006 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,056,000 after acquiring an additional 5,075 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in BJ’s Restaurants by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 342,436 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $11,150,000 after acquiring an additional 40,284 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 130,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 10.4% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 131,876 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,294,000 after purchasing an additional 12,432 shares during the last quarter. 99.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
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.
Further Reading
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