BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. $BJRI Stock Position Raised by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 824,597 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 51,062 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 3.73% of BJ’s Restaurants worth $36,777,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BJRI. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the first quarter valued at $69,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 51.8% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,887 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 3,438 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the period. AdvisorShares Investments LLC bought a new position in BJ’s Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth about $120,000. Finally, Longboard Asset Management LP bought a new position in BJ’s Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth about $203,000. 99.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BJ’s Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of BJ’s Restaurants stock opened at $38.35 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $33.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.12. BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.46 and a 52 week high of $47.02. The stock has a market cap of $810.53 million, a PE ratio of 32.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.35.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $330.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $335.86 million. BJ’s Restaurants had a net margin of 1.99% and a return on equity of 11.73%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.13) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BJ’s Restaurants announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, October 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $75.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 11.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BJRI. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a report on Friday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Mizuho upgraded BJ’s Restaurants to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Barclays raised their price target on BJ’s Restaurants from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BJ’s Restaurants has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BJ’s Restaurants news, VP Alex Puchner sold 1,821 shares of BJ’s Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.06, for a total value of $62,023.26. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 10,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $361,785.32. The trade was a 14.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

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.