Analysts Set BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Target Price at $37.30

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the nine brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $37.30.

A number of research firms have commented on BJRI. Citigroup raised their price objective on BJ’s Restaurants from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on BJ’s Restaurants from $37.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. TheStreet upgraded BJ’s Restaurants from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Barclays raised their price objective on BJ’s Restaurants from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research note on Friday, February 16th.

BJ’s Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BJRI opened at $32.81 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $767.75 million, a P/E ratio of 39.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 2.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. BJ’s Restaurants has a 1-year low of $21.64 and a 1-year high of $38.76. The business’s 50 day moving average is $35.26 and its 200-day moving average is $31.84.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The restaurant operator reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $323.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $331.03 million. BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 5.45% and a net margin of 1.47%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.17 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that BJ’s Restaurants will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 49.8% in the 3rd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 136,252 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,196,000 after buying an additional 45,267 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 271,651 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,373,000 after purchasing an additional 37,173 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 73.1% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 62,432 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after purchasing an additional 26,364 shares during the period. Millrace Asset Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,200,000. Finally, Wakefield Asset Management LLLP acquired a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at about $549,000. Institutional investors own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

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