BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Reaches New 1-Year High - Here's Why

BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $45.30 and last traded at $45.12, with a volume of 38375 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.48.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

BJ's Restaurants Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.04 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $36.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.01. The company has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a PE ratio of 66.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.47.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $347.97 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $347.70 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. The company's revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that BJ's Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at BJ's Restaurants

In other BJ's Restaurants news, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 3,738 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.32, for a total value of $165,668.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,941.28. The trade was a 44.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 transaction, the director now owns 19,896 shares in the company, valued at approximately $887,958.48. This trade represents a 88.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 4.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of BJ's Restaurants

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in BJ's Restaurants by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 410,289 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $14,057,000 after purchasing an additional 48,455 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in shares of BJ's Restaurants during the first quarter worth about $291,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in BJ's Restaurants by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 37,189 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,274,000 after acquiring an additional 5,013 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its stake in BJ's Restaurants by 103.2% during the 1st quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 1,700,780 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $58,269,000 after acquiring an additional 863,749 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in BJ's Restaurants during the 1st quarter worth approximately $754,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.95% of the company's stock.

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.