Brian Krakower Sells 8,017 Shares of BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Stock

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) EVP Brian Krakower sold 8,017 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total value of $317,553.37. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 4,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $174,640.49. This trade represents a 64.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

BJ’s Restaurants Trading Down 0.2%

BJRI stock opened at $40.27 on Wednesday. BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $28.46 and a one year high of $47.02. The stock has a market cap of $851.31 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $34.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $330.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $335.86 million. BJ’s Restaurants had a net margin of 2.23% and a return on equity of 12.92%. BJ’s Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.13) EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

BJ’s Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to buyback $75.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy up to 11.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 18.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 2,189 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 1.8% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 23,034 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,027,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 14.5% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,305 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $101,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 6.3% during the third quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 7,879 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 13,172 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $586,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research note on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of BJ’s Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 9th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of BJ’s Restaurants from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, BJ’s Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.75.

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.