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 prior to trading on Friday following a stronger than expected earnings report. 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.

The restaurant operator reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $347.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $347.70 million. BJ's Restaurants had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 1.23%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday. Wedbush boosted their price objective 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. Gordon Haskett raised shares of BJ's Restaurants from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $36.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut BJ's Restaurants from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BJ's Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $39.60.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ's Restaurants

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 27,284 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $888,000 after buying an additional 1,823 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 110,833 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,894,000 after acquiring an additional 1,752 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 110,895 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,896,000 after acquiring an additional 3,835 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of BJ's Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $574,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 23.5% during the fourth 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. 99.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BJ's Restaurants Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $33.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $821.12 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.39, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.04.

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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