Short Interest in BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Expands By 5.7%

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,040,000 shares, an increase of 5.7% from the August 15th total of 1,930,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 414,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.9 days. Currently, 9.7% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on BJRI. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Benchmark downgraded BJ’s Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on BJ’s Restaurants from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ’s Restaurants

In other news, CEO C Bradford Richmond acquired 2,500 shares of BJ’s Restaurants stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $29.40 per share, with a total value of $73,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 16,905 shares in the company, valued at $497,007. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 4.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BJRI. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 27.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 529,116 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $18,360,000 after purchasing an additional 114,008 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 298.7% during the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 141,556 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,097,000 after purchasing an additional 106,054 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the second quarter valued at about $3,250,000. Armistice Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the second quarter valued at about $2,602,000. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,199,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

BJ’s Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of BJRI stock traded down $0.58 on Wednesday, reaching $31.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 412,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 392,764. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. BJ’s Restaurants has a 12-month low of $21.64 and a 12-month high of $38.87. The company has a market capitalization of $740.54 million, a P/E ratio of 31.67, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 2.12. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.69.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The restaurant operator reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.21. BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 2.19%. The company had revenue of $349.93 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $349.18 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.50 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that BJ’s Restaurants will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About BJ’s Restaurants

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.