Benchmark Boosts BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Price Target to $45.00

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) had its price target hoisted by Benchmark from $41.00 to $45.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. Benchmark currently has a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on BJRI. Wedbush reissued an outperform rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their price objective 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. Barclays raised their target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer boosted 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. Finally, Stephens restated an equal weight rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a report on Friday, February 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $38.30.

BJ’s Restaurants Trading Up 5.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ BJRI traded up $1.92 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $34.68. The company had a trading volume of 885,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 336,328. The stock has a market cap of $810.82 million, a PE ratio of 34.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 2.12. BJ’s Restaurants has a one year low of $21.64 and a one year high of $38.76. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $34.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.17. BJ’s Restaurants had a net margin of 1.80% and a return on equity of 6.56%. The firm had revenue of $337.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $335.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that BJ’s Restaurants will post 1.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 49.8% in the third quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 136,252 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,196,000 after buying an additional 45,267 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 271,651 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,373,000 after purchasing an additional 37,173 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in BJ’s Restaurants by 73.1% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 62,432 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after purchasing an additional 26,364 shares during the period. Millrace Asset Group Inc. purchased a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants in the third quarter worth about $1,200,000. Finally, Wakefield Asset Management LLLP bought a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the third quarter worth about $549,000. 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. The company was formerly known as Chicago Pizza & Brewery, Inc and changed its name to BJ's Restaurants, Inc in August 2004.