Nomura Holdings Inc. Raises Stake in BJ's Restaurants, Inc. $BJRI

Key Points

• Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its stake in BJ's Restaurants, owning approximately 7.69% of the company after acquiring an additional 863,749 shares, bringing the total to 1,700,780 shares worth around $58.27 million.
• Insider sales were reported, with CAO Jacob Guild selling 9,521 shares and SVP Heidi Rogers selling 4,116 shares, both seeing significant decreases in their ownership percentages.
• Analysts have mixed views on BJ's Restaurants, with recent ratings changes including a buy rating increase from Benchmark and a price target of $44.00, while Barclays recommends an underweight rating with a revised price target of $37.00.

Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Free Report) by 103.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,700,780 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 863,749 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. owned approximately 7.69% of BJ's Restaurants worth $58,269,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in BJ's Restaurants during the first quarter valued at about $69,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in BJ's Restaurants during the first quarter valued at about $97,000. US Bancorp DE raised its position in BJ's Restaurants by 51.8% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,887 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its position in BJ's Restaurants by 12.0% during the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 3,438 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BJ's Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at about $203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.95% of the company's stock.

BJ's Restaurants Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ BJRI traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $33.91. The stock had a trading volume of 350,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 448,265. The business's 50 day moving average is $38.11 and its 200-day moving average is $37.91. The company has a market cap of $750.13 million, a P/E ratio of 28.50, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.37. BJ's Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.89 and a 52 week high of $47.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.28. BJ's Restaurants had a net margin of 1.99% and a return on equity of 11.73%. The business had revenue of $365.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $362.74 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that BJ's Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BJRI. Benchmark raised BJ's Restaurants from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BJ's Restaurants from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. 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. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Jacob Guild sold 9,521 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.51, for a total transaction of $338,090.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $135,044.53. The trade was a 71.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Heidi Rogers sold 4,116 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.36, for a total transaction of $145,541.76. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 7,144 shares of the company's stock, valued at $252,611.84. This trade represents a 36.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 4.90% of the company's stock.

BJ's Restaurants 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.