BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Shares Gap Up Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $33.49, but opened at $35.58. BJ's Restaurants shares last traded at $36.85, with a volume of 290,057 shares traded.

The restaurant operator reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $347.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $347.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.32 EPS. The business's revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BJRI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on BJ's Restaurants from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $33.00 price target on shares of BJ's Restaurants and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of BJ's Restaurants from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $36.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Oppenheimer cut shares of BJ's Restaurants from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wedbush raised their target price 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $37.20.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BJ's Restaurants

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in BJ's Restaurants by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,242,137 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $43,642,000 after acquiring an additional 78,852 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in BJ's Restaurants by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 837,031 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $29,409,000 after purchasing an additional 161,495 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 699,434 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $24,575,000 after buying an additional 79,512 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 583,828 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $20,513,000 after buying an additional 14,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC grew its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 28.4% in the 4th quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 416,709 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $14,641,000 after buying an additional 92,285 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.95% of the company's stock.

BJ's Restaurants Trading Up 0.6 %

The business's 50-day moving average is $33.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $836.40 million, a PE ratio of 55.12, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

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.