BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Sets New 12-Month High - Here's What Happened

BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $46.09 and last traded at $46.02, with a volume of 87428 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.21.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

BJ's Restaurants Trading Up 1.0%

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.58.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.20. BJ's Restaurants had a return on equity of 10.35% and a net margin of 1.64%. The company had revenue of $347.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $347.70 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.32 EPS. BJ's Restaurants's revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that BJ's Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at BJ's Restaurants

In related 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 value of $165,668.16. Following the sale, the insider now owns 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Greg Trojan sold 146,102 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were 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. This represents a 88.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 4.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of BJ's Restaurants

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in BJ's Restaurants by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,774 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,902 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 3,438 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,176 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $709,000 after buying an additional 1,486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in BJ's Restaurants by 14.6% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 13,617 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $467,000 after buying an additional 1,732 shares during the period. 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.