BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Given Consensus Rating of "Reduce" by Brokerages

Key Points

• BJ's Restaurants, Inc. has received an average rating of "Reduce" from six analysts, with target prices averaging $38.00 per share.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings report indicated an EPS of $0.59, surpassing expectations of $0.39.
• Insider selling activity has increased, with significant shares sold by both Brian S. Krakower and Greg Trojan, resulting in substantial decreases in their positions.

BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the six research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $38.00.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on BJRI shares. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $33.00 price target on BJ's Restaurants and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded BJ's Restaurants from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on BJ's Restaurants from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th.

BJ's Restaurants Price Performance

BJRI stock traded up $0.70 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $37.02. The stock had a trading volume of 414,455 shares, compared to its average volume of 414,974. The firm has a market capitalization of $818.62 million, a P/E ratio of 39.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.12. BJ's Restaurants has a 52 week low of $27.61 and a 52 week high of $47.02.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $347.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $347.70 million. BJ's Restaurants had a return on equity of 10.35% and a net margin of 1.64%. The firm's revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.32 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that BJ's Restaurants will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Greg Trojan sold 146,102 shares of BJ's Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.63, for a total value of $6,520,532.26. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 19,896 shares in the company, valued at $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 available through this link. Also, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 3,738 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.32, for a total transaction of $165,668.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,579 shares in the company, valued at $202,941.28. This trade represents a 44.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BJ's Restaurants

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BJRI. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in BJ's Restaurants in the second quarter valued at $510,000. Inspire Investing LLC bought a new stake in BJ's Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at about $842,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new position in BJ's Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at about $358,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 13,172 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $586,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sheets Smith Wealth Management purchased a new position in BJ's Restaurants during the second quarter valued at approximately $494,000. 99.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 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.