BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Rating Lowered to "Hold" at Zacks Research

Key Points

• BJ's Restaurants has been downgraded by Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating, reflecting a shift in analyst sentiment.
• Despite the downgrade, other firms like Benchmark and Barclays have varied perspectives, with Benchmark raising their rating to "buy" and Barclays issuing an "underweight" rating.
• Shares of BJ's Restaurants opened at $31.98 and have fluctuated between a one-year low of $28.92 and a high of $47.02, with an average target price of $39.67 based on current analyst ratings.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports. Zacks Research also issued estimates for BJ's Restaurants' Q3 2025 earnings at $0.02 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $2.09 EPS.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on BJRI. Benchmark raised BJ's Restaurants from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Barclays raised their price target on BJ's Restaurants from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of BJ's Restaurants in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on BJ's Restaurants from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded BJ's Restaurants from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, September 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $39.67.

BJ's Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of BJRI opened at $31.98 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $707.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.38. BJ's Restaurants has a one year low of $28.92 and a one year high of $47.02. The stock's fifty day moving average is $32.48 and its 200-day moving average is $37.07.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.28. BJ's Restaurants had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 1.99%.The business had revenue of $365.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $362.74 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that BJ's Restaurants will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at BJ's Restaurants

In other BJ's Restaurants news, CAO Jacob Guild sold 9,521 shares of BJ's Restaurants stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.51, for a total value of $338,090.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 3,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $135,044.53. The trade was a 71.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Heidi Rogers sold 4,116 shares of BJ's Restaurants stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.36, for a total value of $145,541.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,144 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $252,611.84. The trade was a 36.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,458 shares of company stock valued at $545,656 in the last 90 days. 4.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BJRI. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in BJ's Restaurants by 3,594.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 13,670 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $468,000 after acquiring an additional 13,300 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 99.9% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,680 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 5,336 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of BJ's Restaurants during the first quarter worth about $254,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 2.4% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 113,468 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,887,000 after buying an additional 2,635 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in shares of BJ's Restaurants during the first quarter worth about $97,000. 99.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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