Barclays Lowers BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Price Target to $28.00

Key Points

• Barclays has reduced the price target for BJ's Restaurants from $37.00 to $28.00, reflecting a potential downside of 12.34% from the stock's previous close.
• The stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" with a consensus target price of $38.17, amid varying ratings from different analysts.
• BJ's Restaurants reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.97, exceeding the consensus estimate by $0.28, and showed a revenue increase of 4.5% compared to the previous year.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) had its target price dropped by stock analysts at Barclays from $37.00 to $28.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "underweight" rating on the restaurant operator's stock. Barclays's target price would indicate a potential downside of 12.34% from the stock's previous close.

BJRI has been the subject of several other reports. Zacks Research cut shares of BJ's Restaurants from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Benchmark upgraded shares of BJ's Restaurants from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of BJ's Restaurants from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, September 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of BJ's Restaurants in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $38.17.

BJ's Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BJRI opened at $31.94 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. BJ's Restaurants has a 12 month low of $28.92 and a 12 month high of $47.02. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.98. The stock has a market cap of $706.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.84, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.34.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.28. BJ's Restaurants had a net margin of 1.99% and a return on equity of 11.73%. The business had revenue of $365.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $362.74 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that BJ's Restaurants will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Jacob Guild sold 9,521 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.51, for a total value of $338,090.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 3,803 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $135,044.53. The trade was a 71.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Heidi Rogers sold 4,116 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.36, for a total transaction of $145,541.76. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,144 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $252,611.84. The trade was a 36.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 15,458 shares of company stock valued at $545,656. 4.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BJ's Restaurants

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in BJ's Restaurants by 18.0% in the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 2,189 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in BJ's Restaurants by 12.0% in the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 3,438 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its position in BJ's Restaurants by 1.8% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 23,034 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,027,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in BJ's Restaurants by 4.2% in the second quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 13,172 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $586,000 after buying an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in BJ's Restaurants by 0.9% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 71,617 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,194,000 after buying an additional 637 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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 under brand name Pizookie. The company was formerly known as Chicago Pizza & Brewery, Inc and changed its name to BJ's Restaurants, Inc in August 2004.

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