BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Zacks reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on BJRI. Weiss Ratings raised shares of BJ’s Restaurants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, September 4th. William Blair upgraded BJ’s Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Citigroup raised their target price on BJ’s Restaurants from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Benchmark upped their price target on BJ’s Restaurants from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Mizuho set a $74.00 price target on BJ’s Restaurants in a report on Friday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.88.

BJ’s Restaurants Price Performance

NASDAQ:BJRI opened at $59.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $65.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.69. The stock has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a PE ratio of 31.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.29. BJ’s Restaurants has a one year low of $28.46 and a one year high of $74.60.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.04. BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 2.86%.The company had revenue of $388.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $377.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that BJ’s Restaurants will post 2.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at BJ’s Restaurants

In other BJ’s Restaurants news, EVP Gregory Lynds sold 21,704 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.81, for a total value of $1,493,452.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 24,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,704,423.70. The trade was a 46.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Noah Elbogen sold 7,535 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.14, for a total value of $528,504.90. Following the transaction, the director owned 71,655 shares in the company, valued at $5,025,881.70. This trade represents a 9.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 67,784 shares of company stock worth $4,648,326 in the last ninety days. 2.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $200,006,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 2.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,114,685 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $39,125,000 after purchasing an additional 30,684 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 73.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 324,588 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $11,393,000 after buying an additional 137,511 shares during the period. Meros Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $8,715,047. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,516,000. 99.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About BJ’s Restaurants

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc operates casual dining restaurants under the BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse brand. Its restaurants offer a broad menu that includes deep-dish and tavern-style pizzas, burgers, salads, sandwiches, pasta, entrees, desserts and other American-style cuisine.

The company is also known for its handcrafted beer program, which includes a range of house-brewed beers served alongside its food offerings. BJ’s restaurants generally combine full-service dining with a casual, family-friendly atmosphere and operate in locations across the United States.

BJ’s Restaurants traces its origins to 1978, when its first location opened in Southern California.