BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) CAO Sells $338,090.71 in Stock

Key Points

• BJ's Restaurants CAO Jacob Guild sold 9,521 shares of stock at an average price of $35.51, reducing his position by 71.46%.
• The company reported earnings of $0.97 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, and saw year-over-year revenue growth of 4.5%.
• Brokerage firms recently upgraded their ratings on BJ's Restaurants, with Benchmark setting a target price of $44.00 and Piper Sandler adjusting their target to $40.00.

BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) CAO Jacob Guild sold 9,521 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.51, for a total transaction of $338,090.71. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,803 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $135,044.53. The trade was a 71.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

BJ's Restaurants Stock Up 2.2%

NASDAQ BJRI traded up $0.75 on Friday, hitting $35.09. The stock had a trading volume of 796,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 674,339. The business's fifty day moving average price is $39.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.32. BJ's Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.89 and a 52-week high of $47.02. The stock has a market cap of $776.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.59.

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, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $362.74 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that BJ's Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BJ's Restaurants from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research 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 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of 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, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $33.00 price target on shares of BJ's Restaurants and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ's Restaurants

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BJRI. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in BJ's Restaurants during the first quarter worth approximately $69,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants during the first quarter worth about $97,000. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 18.0% during 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 in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 51.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 77.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.95% 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.