BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Price Target Cut to $32.00 by Analysts at Barclays

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) had its price objective reduced by equities research analysts at Barclays from $35.00 to $32.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underweight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Barclays‘s target price suggests a potential downside of 7.89% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research note on Friday. Benchmark cut BJ’s Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BJ’s Restaurants has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.00.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Down 6.3 %

Shares of BJ’s Restaurants stock traded down $2.35 during trading on Friday, reaching $34.74. 203,471 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 386,036. The firm has a market capitalization of $812.22 million, a PE ratio of 28.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 2.12. BJ’s Restaurants has a 1-year low of $26.25 and a 1-year high of $38.87. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $32.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.16). BJ’s Restaurants had a net margin of 2.19% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The firm had revenue of $325.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.97 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.16) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BJ’s Restaurants will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at BJ’s Restaurants

In related news, CEO C Bradford Richmond bought 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $29.40 per share, for a total transaction of $73,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 16,905 shares in the company, valued at $497,007. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 4.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Emerald Advisers LLC boosted its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 569,221 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $18,534,000 after acquiring an additional 4,009 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 27.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 529,116 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $18,360,000 after purchasing an additional 114,008 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 302,152 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,485,000 after purchasing an additional 5,976 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 142,622 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,949,000 after buying an additional 8,323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in BJ’s Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,250,000. 99.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.