BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Short Interest Up 19.1% in May

BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,810,000 shares, an increase of 19.1% from the April 30th total of 1,520,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 447,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.0 days. Currently, 9.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on BJRI shares. Barclays upped their target price on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $33.00 price target on shares of BJ's Restaurants and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $37.20.

BJ's Restaurants Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of BJRI stock traded down $0.81 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $44.13. 195,927 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 386,169. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $37.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.20. The stock has a market cap of $975.98 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.90, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.47. BJ's Restaurants has a 12-month low of $27.61 and a 12-month high of $45.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.20. BJ's Restaurants had a net margin of 1.23% and a return on equity of 8.76%. The company had revenue of $347.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $347.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that BJ's Restaurants will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at BJ's Restaurants

In other news, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 3,738 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.32, for a total transaction of $165,668.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,579 shares in the company, valued at $202,941.28. This trade represents a 44.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Greg Trojan sold 146,102 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.63, for a total transaction of $6,520,532.26. Following the sale, the director now owns 19,896 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $887,958.48. The trade was a 88.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ's Restaurants

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 103.2% in the 1st quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 1,700,780 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $58,269,000 after purchasing an additional 863,749 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,242,137 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $43,642,000 after purchasing an additional 78,852 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 773,535 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $26,501,000 after buying an additional 74,101 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 583,828 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $20,513,000 after buying an additional 14,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC lifted its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 28.4% during the 4th quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 416,709 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $14,641,000 after buying an additional 92,285 shares in the last quarter. 99.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.