BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Shares Gap Up on Strong Earnings

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $32.76, but opened at $36.11. BJ’s Restaurants shares last traded at $36.40, with a volume of 231,522 shares traded.

The restaurant operator reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $337.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $335.35 million. BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 5.45% and a net margin of 1.47%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.15 EPS.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BJRI. Oppenheimer upped 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 note on Friday, January 5th. Citigroup upped their target price 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 lifted their price target on BJ’s Restaurants from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Benchmark raised their price objective on BJ’s Restaurants from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BJ’s Restaurants news, VP Alex Puchner sold 7,713 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.25, for a total value of $295,022.25. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $467,491.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Alex Puchner sold 7,713 shares of BJ’s Restaurants 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 12,222 shares in the company, valued at approximately $467,491.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Fund 1 Investments, Llc sold 242,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 15,315 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $554,000 after buying an additional 1,432 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 10.8% in the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 6,487 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $235,000 after acquiring an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 49,197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,772,000 after acquiring an additional 1,288 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its holdings in BJ’s Restaurants by 40.8% during the 4th quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 92,176 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,319,000 after acquiring an additional 26,722 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC increased its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 298.7% during the 4th quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 141,556 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,097,000 after purchasing an additional 106,054 shares during the period. 99.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $34.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.66. The firm has a market cap of $810.82 million, a P/E ratio of 41.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 2.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.42.

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