BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) VP Alex Puchner Sells 1,821 Shares

Key Points

• BJ's Restaurants VP Alex Puchner sold 1,821 shares of the company's stock at an average price of $34.06, totaling $62,023.26, reducing his ownership by 14.63%.
• Following the sale, BJ's Restaurants shares decreased 2.3% to $32.80, with an average trading volume below its typical levels.
• In their latest earnings report, BJ's Restaurants reported earnings per share of $0.97, surpassing estimates, with revenue increasing by 4.5% year-over-year.

BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) VP Alex Puchner sold 1,821 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.06, for a total value of $62,023.26. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 10,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $361,785.32. The trade was a 14.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

BJ's Restaurants Trading Down 4.4%

Shares of BJRI stock traded down $1.43 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $30.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 466,540 shares, compared to its average volume of 536,765. The stock has a market capitalization of $684.17 million, a P/E ratio of 25.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.37. BJ's Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $28.92 and a one year high of $47.02. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $36.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $365.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $362.74 million. BJ's Restaurants had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 1.99%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that BJ's Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BJRI. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in BJ's Restaurants during the first quarter valued at $69,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in shares of BJ's Restaurants in the first quarter worth $97,000. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 18.0% in the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 2,189 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 51.8% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,887 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 77.5% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,317 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BJRI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on BJ's Restaurants from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Benchmark upgraded BJ's Restaurants from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on BJ's Restaurants from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded BJ's Restaurants from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $39.67.

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.