BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Upgraded by Gordon Haskett to “Hold” Rating

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) was upgraded by analysts at Gordon Haskett from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Wednesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage currently has a $36.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock. Gordon Haskett’s target price indicates a potential upside of 2.16% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Oppenheimer cut shares of BJ’s Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.00.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BJRI opened at $35.24 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $804.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 2.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $35.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.98. BJ’s Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $27.61 and a fifty-two week 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.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $325.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.97 million. BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 7.98% and a net margin of 2.24%. BJ’s Restaurants’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.16) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BJ’s Restaurants will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ’s Restaurants

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 of the company’s stock, valued at $190,068.40. This trade represents a 30.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 4.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,760 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 693 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its holdings in BJ’s Restaurants by 764.9% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 813 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 2.8% during the second quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC now owns 29,089 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,009,000 after buying an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 142.9% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,540 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd lifted its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 3.7% during the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 29,499 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,024,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058 shares during the last quarter. 99.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About BJ’s Restaurants

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.