Benchmark Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Stock

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) had its price target increased by equities researchers at Benchmark from $44.00 to $48.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Benchmark’s target price suggests a potential upside of 26.35% from the stock’s current price.

BJRI has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a report on Monday, December 29th. Mizuho lifted their price target on BJ’s Restaurants from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen cut BJ’s Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.00.

BJ’s Restaurants Trading Down 5.1%

NASDAQ:BJRI opened at $37.99 on Thursday. BJ’s Restaurants has a 12-month low of $28.46 and a 12-month high of $47.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $803.11 million, a P/E ratio of 17.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.92.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The restaurant operator reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $355.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $353.71 million. BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 13.77% and a net margin of 3.49%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that BJ’s Restaurants will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BJ’s Restaurants news, EVP Brian S. Krakower sold 8,017 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was 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 directly owned 4,409 shares in the company, valued at $174,640.49. This represents a 64.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of BJ’s Restaurants

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC grew its holdings in BJ’s Restaurants by 187.7% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 699 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 39.3% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 939 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 1,618.3% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,031 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 971 shares during the last quarter. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 18.0% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

BJ’s Restaurants News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting BJ’s Restaurants this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BJ’s reported a Q4 beat on both EPS and revenue, beating consensus (EPS $0.66 vs. $0.60; revenue $355.4M vs. $353.7M), showing year‑over‑year revenue growth and improving operational fundamentals. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts raised price targets after the print (Benchmark to $48, Citigroup to $49), reflecting confidence in the recovery and giving upside vs. the current price. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Management outlined modest comp‑sales guidance of 1–3% for 2026 while highlighting menu innovation and unit expansion — positive for long‑term growth but conservative in the near term. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple news wires and earnings recaps emphasize that revenue and EPS beat estimates; investors will be listening for margin trends and FY guidance detail from the call transcript. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Underlying fundamentals that may concern investors: slim net margin (≈3.5%), low liquidity ratios (quick ratio ~0.30, current ratio ~0.36) and modest YoY revenue growth, which can make the name sensitive to cost pressure or traffic weakness. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Not all brokers are uniformly bullish: Barclays raised its target but kept an underweight rating, a reminder of split analyst sentiment that can fuel volatility after earnings. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Market action shows modestly lower volume vs. average and noisy/invalid short‑interest data in the feed — technical/dealer flows and profit taking after a recent run toward the 52‑week high may be amplifying the move. Article Title

About BJ’s Restaurants

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc is a publicly traded casual dining chain known for its deep‐dish pizzas, California‐style thin crust offerings and in‐house craft beer selections. Operating under the BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse brand, the company combines a microbrewery concept with full‐service dining, offering an extensive menu that includes appetizers, salads, pasta dishes, sandwiches and the signature Pizookie dessert.

Founded in 1978 in Orange County, California, BJ’s Restaurants began as BJ’s Chicago Pizzeria, bringing a Chicago‐style pizza experience to the West Coast.