BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Price Target Raised to $68.00

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) had its price target lifted by Benchmark from $50.00 to $68.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Benchmark’s price objective points to a potential upside of 8.85% from the company’s previous close.

BJRI has been the topic of a number of other reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on BJ’s Restaurants from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings downgraded BJ’s Restaurants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Barclays reduced their target price on BJ’s Restaurants from $42.00 to $38.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $44.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.25.

BJ’s Restaurants Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of BJ’s Restaurants stock opened at $62.47 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.31. BJ’s Restaurants has a 12-month low of $28.46 and a 12-month high of $63.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.54.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The restaurant operator reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $358.12 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $356.97 million. BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 13.48% and a net margin of 3.15%.The firm’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that BJ’s Restaurants will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BJ’s Restaurants news, CMO Heidi Rogers sold 3,090 shares of BJ’s Restaurants stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.21, for a total value of $164,418.90. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 9,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $492,990.65. The trade was a 25.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kendra D. Miller sold 19,261 shares of BJ’s Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.60, for a total value of $1,070,911.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 28,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,590,104.40. This represents a 40.24% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 63,817 shares of company stock valued at $3,384,688 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BJRI. UBS Group AG raised its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 576.9% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,451,883 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $44,326,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237,383 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 2.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,114,685 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $39,125,000 after acquiring an additional 30,684 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 48.8% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 935,375 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $28,557,000 after acquiring an additional 306,930 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 67.3% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 388,779 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $11,869,000 after acquiring an additional 156,458 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 385,230 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $15,178,000 after acquiring an additional 30,269 shares during the period. 99.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.