BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,300,000 shares, an increase of 13.3% from the March 15th total of 2,030,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 376,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.1 days. Currently, 10.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Fund 1 Investments, Llc sold 242,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.53, for a total transaction of $8,598,260.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,326,476 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,659,692.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other BJ's Restaurants news, VP Alex Puchner sold 7,713 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.25, for a total transaction of $295,022.25. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,222 shares in the company, valued at approximately $467,491.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Fund 1 Investments, Llc sold 242,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.53, for a total transaction of $8,598,260.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,326,476 shares in the company, valued at $82,659,692.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ's Restaurants

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BJRI. State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of BJ's Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of BJ's Restaurants during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BJ's Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of BJ's Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of BJ's Restaurants by 141.0% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,270 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 743 shares in the last quarter. 99.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. TheStreet upgraded shares of BJ's Restaurants from a "c" rating to a "b-" rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $37.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $28.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of BJ's Restaurants in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $37.30.

BJ's Restaurants Stock Down 3.4 %

NASDAQ BJRI traded down $1.15 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $32.78. 388,001 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 335,441. The company's 50-day moving average is $35.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.77. BJ's Restaurants has a one year low of $21.64 and a one year high of $38.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.42. The company has a market capitalization of $767.05 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 2.12.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The restaurant operator reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $323.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $331.03 million. BJ's Restaurants had a return on equity of 5.45% and a net margin of 1.47%. BJ's Restaurants's revenue for the quarter was down 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.17 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that BJ's Restaurants will post 1.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About BJ's Restaurants

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. The company was formerly known as Chicago Pizza & Brewery, Inc and changed its name to BJ's Restaurants, Inc in August 2004.