BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Share Price Breaks Above 200-Day Moving Average - What's Next?

BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $54.00 and traded as high as $60.93. BJ's Restaurants shares last traded at $60.03, with a volume of 586,011 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BJRI. Citigroup raised their price target on BJ's Restaurants from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. DA Davidson set a $65.00 price target on BJ's Restaurants in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research downgraded BJ's Restaurants from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded BJ's Restaurants from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of BJ's Restaurants from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, BJ's Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $57.12.

BJ's Restaurants Stock Up 2.6%

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $62.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.00. The firm has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.10, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $388.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $377.07 million. BJ's Restaurants had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 2.86%. The company's revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that BJ's Restaurants, Inc. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BJ's Restaurants news, Director C Richmond acquired 753 shares of BJ's Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $63.25 per share, with a total value of $47,627.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 35,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,245,375. The trade was a 2.17% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gregory Lynds sold 25,350 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total transaction of $1,710,364.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,135,600.78. The trade was a 35.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 67,784 shares of company stock valued at $4,648,326 in the last three months. 2.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of BJ's Restaurants

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in BJ's Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $200,006,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in BJ's Restaurants by 2.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,114,685 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $39,125,000 after acquiring an additional 30,684 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in BJ's Restaurants by 73.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 324,588 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $11,393,000 after acquiring an additional 137,511 shares in the last quarter. Meros Investment Management LP acquired a new position in BJ's Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $8,715,047. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in BJ's Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $7,516,000. 99.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BJ's Restaurants Company Profile

BJ's Restaurants, Inc operates casual dining restaurants under the BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse brand. The company's restaurants offer a broad menu that includes deep-dish pizza, burgers, sandwiches, salads, pasta, steaks, seafood, and other American-style entrees.

BJ's is also known for its handcrafted beer and signature Pizookie dessert, a warm, freshly baked cookie typically served with ice cream. Its restaurants generally combine full-service dining with an in-house brewery or a selection of proprietary and seasonal beer offerings.

The company traces its history to 1978, when its first restaurant opened in Southern California.

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