BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Hits New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $38.87 and last traded at $38.53, with a volume of 23173 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $37.84.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.57.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Up 2.1 %

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market cap of $881.54 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.27, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 2.10.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $325.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $324.97 million. BJ’s Restaurants had a net margin of 2.24% and a return on equity of 7.98%. BJ’s Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.16) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at BJ’s Restaurants

In other BJ’s Restaurants news, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 2,313 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.60, for a total transaction of $82,342.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $190,068.40. This represents a 30.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO C Bradford Richmond purchased 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $29.40 per share, for a total transaction of $73,500.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 16,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $497,007. This trade represents a 17.36 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 4.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BJ’s Restaurants

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BJRI. Emerald Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in BJ’s Restaurants by 0.7% in the third quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 569,221 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $18,534,000 after purchasing an additional 4,009 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 27.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 529,116 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $18,360,000 after buying an additional 114,008 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 493,006 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,056,000 after buying an additional 5,075 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 13.3% in the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 342,436 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $11,150,000 after buying an additional 40,284 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 528.9% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 155,383 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,059,000 after acquiring an additional 130,676 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

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 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.