Insider Buying: BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Director Acquires 1,000 Shares of Stock

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Director C Bradford Richmond acquired 1,000 shares of BJ’s Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $34.05 per share, with a total value of $34,050.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 18,700 shares in the company, valued at $636,735. The trade was a 5.65% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

C Bradford Richmond also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, March 6th, C Bradford Richmond acquired 1,000 shares of BJ’s Restaurants stock. The stock was purchased at an average price of $34.50 per share, for a total transaction of $34,500.00.
• On Tuesday, March 3rd, C Bradford Richmond bought 1,200 shares of BJ’s Restaurants stock. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $35.10 per share, for a total transaction of $42,120.00.

BJ’s Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BJRI traded down $1.59 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $33.73. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 530,596 shares, compared to its average volume of 367,842. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $41.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $715.08 million, a P/E ratio of 15.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.32. BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.46 and a 1-year high of $47.02.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The restaurant operator reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.06. BJ’s Restaurants had a net margin of 3.49% and a return on equity of 13.82%. The firm had revenue of $355.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $353.71 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.47 earnings per share. BJ’s Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho increased their price target on BJ’s Restaurants from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Citigroup upped their target price on BJ’s Restaurants from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. DA Davidson started coverage on BJ’s Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 6th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Benchmark lifted their price target on BJ’s Restaurants from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.38.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 23.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,362,763 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $102,665,000 after purchasing an additional 640,648 shares during the period. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 576.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,451,883 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $44,326,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237,383 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,084,001 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $42,709,000 after purchasing an additional 23,513 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 48.8% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 935,375 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,557,000 after purchasing an additional 306,930 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 886,918 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $27,078,000 after purchasing an additional 62,321 shares during the last quarter. 99.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BJ’s Restaurants News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting BJ’s Restaurants this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Limited-time menu launch that could help traffic and same-store sales: BJ’s rolled out a seasonal “Monster Pizookie®” promotion starting March 12, a larger sharable dessert designed to drive visits and social engagement — a modest marketing/traffic positive for the casual-dining operator. BJ’s Monster Pizookie PR
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data posted for March is effectively meaningless — reported as 0 shares with NaN changes and a 0.0 days-to-cover figure — likely a data/error artifact rather than a real change in short positioning. This shouldn’t be treated as a meaningful signal until corrected by exchanges/data providers.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst earnings downgrades from Zacks: Zacks Research cut multiple near-term and full-year estimates (Q1–Q4 and FY2027), trimming FY2027 from $2.43 to $2.15 and lowering several quarterly EPS forecasts. Analyst cuts typically pressure valuation and can drive intraday selling as expectations are reset — likely a principal reason for today’s weaker share action.
• Negative Sentiment: Third‑party sentiment/coverage: A Seeking Alpha piece characterizes BJ’s as “fairly valued” and flags a downgrade to Hold, which can dampen investor enthusiasm and reduce buying interest from momentum and retail investors. Seeking Alpha: Fairly Valued / Hold

About BJ’s Restaurants

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc is a publicly traded casual dining chain known for its deep‐dish pizzas, California‐style thin crust offerings and in‐house craft beer selections. Operating under the BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse brand, the company combines a microbrewery concept with full‐service dining, offering an extensive menu that includes appetizers, salads, pasta dishes, sandwiches and the signature Pizookie dessert.

Founded in 1978 in Orange County, California, BJ’s Restaurants began as BJ’s Chicago Pizzeria, bringing a Chicago‐style pizza experience to the West Coast.