BJ's Restaurants, Inc. $BJRI Shares Sold by Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC

Key Points

• Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC reduced its stake in BJ's Restaurants by 15.1% in the first quarter, holding 353,977 shares valued at $12.1 million after selling 62,732 shares.
• BJ's Restaurants reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.97, surpassing analysts' expectations, with a net margin of 1.99% and revenue of $365.6 million.
• Analyst ratings for BJ's Restaurants show a mixed outlook, with two buy ratings, three hold ratings, and two sell ratings, alongside a consensus price target of $39.67.

Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC cut its stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Free Report) by 15.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 353,977 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 62,732 shares during the period. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC owned about 1.60% of BJ's Restaurants worth $12,127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BJRI. Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 161,495 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its position in BJ's Restaurants by 60.3% during the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 277,874 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $9,763,000 after acquiring an additional 104,490 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,242,137 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $43,642,000 after buying an additional 78,852 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 45.4% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 243,267 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $8,547,000 after buying an additional 75,936 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 10.6% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 773,535 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $26,501,000 after buying an additional 74,101 shares during the last quarter. 99.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BJRI has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BJ's Restaurants from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. Benchmark upgraded shares of BJ's Restaurants from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $33.00 price objective on shares of BJ's Restaurants and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BJ's Restaurants has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $39.67.

Insider Activity at BJ's Restaurants

In other news, SVP Heidi Rogers sold 4,116 shares of the firm'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 value of $145,541.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,144 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $252,611.84. This trade represents a 36.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Jacob Guild sold 9,521 shares of the firm'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. This trade represents a 71.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 4.30% of the company's stock.

BJ's Restaurants Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of BJ's Restaurants stock traded down $0.13 on Friday, reaching $33.56. The company had a trading volume of 468,472 shares, compared to its average volume of 447,095. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $39.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.95. The firm has a market cap of $742.35 million, a PE ratio of 28.20, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.59. BJ's Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.89 and a 52-week high of $47.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.38.

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

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.