BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.17 EPS

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The restaurant operator reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.17, Briefing.com reports. BJ’s Restaurants had a net margin of 1.47% and a return on equity of 5.45%. The company had revenue of $337.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $335.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

BJ’s Restaurants Price Performance

BJ’s Restaurants stock traded up $1.92 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $34.68. 885,668 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 385,154. BJ’s Restaurants has a 12-month low of $21.64 and a 12-month high of $38.76. The company has a market cap of $810.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.78, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 2.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $34.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on BJRI shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on BJ’s Restaurants from $37.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 5th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a report on Friday, February 16th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, TheStreet raised BJ’s Restaurants from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.30.

Insider Transactions at BJ’s Restaurants

In related news, VP Alex Puchner sold 7,713 shares of BJ’s Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.25, for a total value of $295,022.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,222 shares in the company, valued at $467,491.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, VP Alex Puchner sold 7,713 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.25, for a total value of $295,022.25. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 12,222 shares in the company, valued at approximately $467,491.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Fund 1 Investments, Llc sold 242,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.53, for a total transaction of $8,598,260.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,326,476 shares in the company, valued at $82,659,692.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

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. The company was formerly known as Chicago Pizza & Brewery, Inc and changed its name to BJ's Restaurants, Inc in August 2004.