Benchmark Upgrades BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) to Buy

Key Points

• BJ's Restaurants has been upgraded by Benchmark from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating, with a price target of $44.00, indicating a potential upside of 28.77% from its previous close.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.97, exceeding expectations, with a revenue of $365.60 million, marking a 4.5% year-over-year increase.
• Insider trading activity was noted, with Director Greg Trojan selling 146,102 shares for over $6.5 million, leading to a significant decrease in his ownership stake.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Benchmark from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $44.00 price objective on the restaurant operator's stock. Benchmark's target price would suggest a potential upside of 28.77% from the company's previous close.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on BJRI. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $33.00 target price on shares of BJ's Restaurants and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of BJ's Restaurants from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.67.

BJ's Restaurants Trading Down 3.6%

Shares of BJ's Restaurants stock opened at $34.17 on Monday. BJ's Restaurants has a 1 year low of $27.61 and a 1 year high of $47.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.04. The company has a market capitalization of $755.84 million, a P/E ratio of 28.71, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.59. The company's fifty day moving average is $42.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.17.

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

Insider Activity

In other BJ's Restaurants news, Director Greg Trojan sold 146,102 shares of BJ's Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.63, for a total transaction of $6,520,532.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 19,896 shares in the company, valued at approximately $887,958.48. The trade was a 88.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 3,738 shares of BJ's Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.32, for a total transaction of $165,668.16. Following the transaction, the insider owned 4,579 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $202,941.28. The trade was a 44.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ's Restaurants

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BJRI. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in BJ's Restaurants during the first quarter worth about $69,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in BJ's Restaurants during the first quarter worth about $97,000. US Bancorp DE raised its position in BJ's Restaurants by 51.8% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,887 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in BJ's Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $108,000. Finally, Two Sigma Securities LLC acquired a new position in BJ's Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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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