BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Announces Earnings Results

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

BJ’s Restaurants Price Performance

BJRI stock traded up $1.92 during trading on Friday, hitting $34.68. The company had a trading volume of 885,668 shares, compared to its average volume of 385,154. The business has a 50 day moving average of $34.52 and a 200 day moving average of $32.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $810.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 2.12. BJ’s Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $21.64 and a fifty-two week high of $38.76.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research report on Wednesday. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a report on Friday, February 16th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup increased their price target on BJ’s Restaurants from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price objective on BJ’s Restaurants from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.30.

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