44,414 Shares in BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. $BJRI Bought by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 44,414 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $2,697,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.21% of BJ’s Restaurants at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BJRI. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 37,189 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,274,000 after purchasing an additional 5,013 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at about $291,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 29.7% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 17,662 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $788,000 after buying an additional 4,045 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 22.5% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 291,957 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $13,021,000 after buying an additional 53,574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 71,617 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,194,000 after buying an additional 637 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kendra Miller sold 19,261 shares of BJ’s Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.60, for a total value of $1,070,911.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 28,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,590,104.40. The trade was a 40.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Noah Elbogen sold 7,535 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.14, for a total value of $528,504.90. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 71,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,025,881.70. This represents a 9.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 124,077 shares of company stock valued at $7,676,952. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BJRI opened at $59.89 on Friday. BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.46 and a 1 year high of $74.60. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a PE ratio of 32.03, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.30.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.04. BJ’s Restaurants had a net margin of 2.86% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The firm had revenue of $388.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $377.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. will post 2.37 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BJRI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho set a $74.00 price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of BJ’s Restaurants from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of BJ’s Restaurants from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Benchmark raised their price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BJ’s Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.88.

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.