BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Rating Lowered to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• BJ's Restaurants has been downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating, indicating a more cautious outlook for the company's stock.
• Analysts have varying opinions on the stock, with an average rating of "hold" and a consensus target price of $38.80.
• Recently, insider sales have occurred, including a significant transaction by Director Greg Trojan, who sold 146,102 shares, representing an 88% decrease in his ownership stake.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $33.00 price target on BJ's Restaurants and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler increased their price target on BJ's Restaurants from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on BJ's Restaurants from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BJ's Restaurants has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $38.80.

BJ's Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of BJ's Restaurants stock opened at $34.17 on Friday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $42.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.11. The company has a market capitalization of $755.84 million, a PE ratio of 28.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.28. BJ's Restaurants had a return on equity of 11.84% and a net margin of 1.99%. 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 posted $0.72 EPS. BJ's Restaurants's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that BJ's Restaurants will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at BJ's Restaurants

In related news, Director Greg Trojan sold 146,102 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 19,896 shares of the company's stock, valued at $887,958.48. This trade represents a 88.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 3,738 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.32, for a total value of $165,668.16. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 4,579 shares in the company, 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. 4.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in BJ's Restaurants by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 33,606 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,181,000 after buying an additional 6,322 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of BJ's Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $108,000. Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of BJ's Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $418,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 33,417 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,174,000 after purchasing an additional 2,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 147.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 259,977 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $9,134,000 after purchasing an additional 155,109 shares during 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.

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