BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• BJ's Restaurants currently has an average analyst rating of "Hold", based on 10 firms covering the stock. The consensus 12-month price target is $42.00.
• Recent analyst actions were mixed: Benchmark raised its target to $50 and kept a buy rating, while other firms such as DA Davidson, Citigroup, and Piper Sandler maintained neutral/hold-type views with price targets in the $38 to $47 range.
• Insiders have been selling shares, including EVP Brian S. Krakower and Director Noah A. Elbogen, with 23,570 shares sold over the last three months. BJ's also reported quarterly earnings that missed EPS estimates but came in slightly ahead on revenue.

Shares of BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $42.00.

Several research firms have weighed in on BJRI. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of BJ's Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 6th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of BJ's Restaurants from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BJ's Restaurants news, EVP Brian S. Krakower sold 3,475 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.71, for a total value of $162,317.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 4,721 shares of the company's stock, valued at $220,517.91. The trade was a 42.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Noah A. Elbogen sold 4,049 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.85, for a total transaction of $193,744.65. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 76,235 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,647,844.75. This represents a 5.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 23,570 shares of company stock valued at $1,161,806 over the last three months. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ's Restaurants

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 23.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,362,763 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $102,665,000 after acquiring an additional 640,648 shares during the period. UBS Group AG increased its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 576.9% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,451,883 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $44,326,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237,383 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 2.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,114,685 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $39,125,000 after acquiring an additional 30,684 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 48.8% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 935,375 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $28,557,000 after acquiring an additional 306,930 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 7.6% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 886,918 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $27,078,000 after acquiring an additional 62,321 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.95% of the company's stock.

BJ's Restaurants Stock Performance

NASDAQ BJRI opened at $52.40 on Thursday. BJ's Restaurants has a 52-week low of $28.46 and a 52-week high of $54.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a fifty day moving average of $42.42 and a 200-day moving average of $40.68.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The restaurant operator reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.04). BJ's Restaurants had a return on equity of 13.48% and a net margin of 3.15%.The company had revenue of $358.12 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $356.97 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BJ's Restaurants will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BJ's Restaurants Company Profile

BJ's Restaurants, Inc is a publicly traded casual dining chain known for its deep‐dish pizzas, California‐style thin crust offerings and in‐house craft beer selections. Operating under the BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse brand, the company combines a microbrewery concept with full‐service dining, offering an extensive menu that includes appetizers, salads, pasta dishes, sandwiches and the signature Pizookie dessert.

Founded in 1978 in Orange County, California, BJ's Restaurants began as BJ's Chicago Pizzeria, bringing a Chicago‐style pizza experience to the West Coast.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.