BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Short Interest Update

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,890,000 shares, a decline of 7.4% from the August 31st total of 2,040,000 shares. Currently, 9.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 432,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days.

BJ’s Restaurants Price Performance

BJ’s Restaurants stock traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $31.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 225,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 394,112. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $747.55 million, a P/E ratio of 31.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 2.12. BJ’s Restaurants has a twelve month low of $21.64 and a twelve month high of $38.87. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $31.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.49.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on BJRI. 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 report on Friday, July 26th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Benchmark cut BJ’s Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.63.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO C Bradford Richmond bought 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $29.40 per share, with a total value of $73,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 16,905 shares in the company, valued at $497,007. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 4.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BJRI. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 27.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 529,116 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $18,360,000 after acquiring an additional 114,008 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 298.7% during the 4th quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 141,556 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,097,000 after acquiring an additional 106,054 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,250,000. Armistice Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,602,000. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 21.0% during the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 296,176 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,716,000 after acquiring an additional 51,364 shares in the last quarter. 99.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BJ’s Restaurants Company Profile

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.