BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Shares Break Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI)’s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $54.00 and traded as high as $60.93. BJ’s Restaurants shares last traded at $60.03, with a volume of 586,011 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho upgraded shares of BJ’s Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $74.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. William Blair upgraded shares of BJ’s Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research cut BJ’s Restaurants from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. Citigroup boosted their price target on BJ’s Restaurants from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, DA Davidson set a $65.00 price target on BJ’s Restaurants in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $57.12.

BJ’s Restaurants Trading Up 1.1%

The company has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.33. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $62.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.16.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.04. BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 2.86%. The firm had revenue of $388.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $377.07 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ’s Restaurants

In other BJ’s Restaurants news, Director Noah Elbogen sold 7,535 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.14, for a total transaction of $528,504.90. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 71,655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,025,881.70. This trade represents a 9.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kendra Miller sold 2,978 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.80, for a total transaction of $207,864.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 25,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,788,345.80. The trade was a 10.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 67,784 shares of company stock valued at $4,648,326. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at about $200,006,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,114,685 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $39,125,000 after buying an additional 30,684 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 73.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 324,588 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $11,393,000 after buying an additional 137,511 shares during the last quarter. Meros Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants in the second quarter worth approximately $8,715,047. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants in the second quarter worth approximately $7,516,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

About BJ’s Restaurants

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc operates casual dining restaurants under the BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse brand. The company’s restaurants offer a broad menu that includes deep-dish pizza, burgers, sandwiches, salads, pasta, steaks, seafood, and other American-style entrees.

BJ’s is also known for its handcrafted beer and signature Pizookie dessert, a warm, freshly baked cookie typically served with ice cream. Its restaurants generally combine full-service dining with an in-house brewery or a selection of proprietary and seasonal beer offerings.

The company traces its history to 1978, when its first restaurant opened in Southern California.