BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) by 2.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 113,468 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 2,635 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.51% of BJ’s Restaurants worth $3,887,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in BJ’s Restaurants in the first quarter valued at about $254,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $4,502,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 3,594.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 13,670 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 13,300 shares during the period. Emerald Advisers LLC raised its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 583,828 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $20,513,000 after purchasing an additional 14,607 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 36,076 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,268,000 after purchasing an additional 5,722 shares in the last quarter. 99.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other BJ’s Restaurants news, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 3,738 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.32, for a total value of $165,668.16. Following the sale, the insider owned 4,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,941.28. This trade represents a 44.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Greg Trojan sold 146,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.63, for a total value of $6,520,532.26. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 19,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $887,958.48. This represents a 88.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on BJ’s Restaurants from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of BJ’s Restaurants from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $33.00 price objective on BJ’s Restaurants and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.00.

BJ’s Restaurants Price Performance

BJ’s Restaurants stock opened at $38.90 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market capitalization of $860.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.38, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.56. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $43.71 and its 200-day moving average is $37.89. BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.61 and a 12 month high of $47.02.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.20. BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 10.35% and a net margin of 1.64%. The firm had revenue of $347.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $347.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

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.