18,870 Shares in BJ's Restaurants, Inc. $BJRI Bought by Inspire Investing LLC

Key Points

• Inspire Investing LLC acquired 18,870 shares of BJ's Restaurants, valued at about $842,000, representing a 0.09% stake in the company.
• BJ's Restaurants posted $0.97 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenues of $365.60 million, a 4.5% increase year-over-year.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for BJ's Restaurants, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.67, while several have recently upgraded or downgraded their positions.

Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 18,870 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $842,000. Inspire Investing LLC owned about 0.09% of BJ's Restaurants at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management bought a new position in BJ's Restaurants during the second quarter worth $358,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its stake in BJ's Restaurants by 4.2% during the second quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 13,172 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $586,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management bought a new position in BJ's Restaurants during the second quarter worth $494,000. Diversified Trust Co bought a new position in BJ's Restaurants during the second quarter worth $212,000. Finally, Longboard Asset Management LP bought a new position in BJ's Restaurants during the second quarter worth $203,000. 99.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BJRI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of BJ's Restaurants in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on BJ's Restaurants from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Barclays increased their target price 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. Wall Street Zen lowered BJ's Restaurants from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, September 21st. Finally, Benchmark raised BJ's Restaurants from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BJ's Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.67.

BJ's Restaurants Stock Down 5.0%

BJRI opened at $29.54 on Monday. BJ's Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.92 and a fifty-two week high of $47.02. The business has a 50-day moving average of $32.59 and a 200-day moving average of $37.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $653.42 million, a PE ratio of 24.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.34.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. BJ's Restaurants had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 1.99%.The company had revenue of $365.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $362.74 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that BJ's Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at BJ's Restaurants

In related news, SVP Heidi Rogers sold 4,116 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.36, for a total value of $145,541.76. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,144 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $252,611.84. This trade represents a 36.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Alex Puchner sold 1,821 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.06, for a total value of $62,023.26. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 10,622 shares in the company, valued at $361,785.32. This trade represents a 14.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,458 shares of company stock valued at $545,656. Corporate insiders own 4.90% of the company's stock.

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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