BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.28 EPS

Key Points

• BJ's Restaurants reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.97, significantly beating the consensus estimate of $0.69, with a revenue of $365.60 million this quarter.
• Despite the strong earnings report, BJ's Restaurants' stock fell by 3.6% following the announcement, with shares trading at around $34.17.
• Insider transactions were notable, with director Greg Trojan selling 146,102 shares of stock, reflecting an 88.01% decrease in ownership following the sale.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The restaurant operator reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.28, Zacks reports. BJ's Restaurants had a net margin of 1.99% and a return on equity of 11.73%. The company had revenue of $365.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $362.74 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. BJ's Restaurants's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis.

BJ's Restaurants Trading Down 0.8%

BJRI traded down $0.27 on Wednesday, hitting $34.17. The company had a trading volume of 572,923 shares, compared to its average volume of 432,517. The firm has a market cap of $755.84 million, a P/E ratio of 28.71, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.59. BJ's Restaurants has a 1 year low of $27.61 and a 1 year high of $47.02. The company's fifty day moving average price is $42.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Greg Trojan sold 146,102 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director directly owned 19,896 shares in the company, valued at approximately $887,958.48. The trade was a 88.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 3,738 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 4,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,941.28. This trade represents a 44.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of BJ's Restaurants

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in BJ's Restaurants stock. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Free Report) by 15.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 37,189 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 5,013 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.17% of BJ's Restaurants worth $1,274,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. 99.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BJRI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. 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 note on Friday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on BJ's Restaurants from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered BJ's Restaurants from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Benchmark upgraded BJ's Restaurants from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on BJ's Restaurants from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BJ's Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.67.

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.