Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $37.17 Million Stock Holdings in BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,071,032 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 18,801 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in BJ’s Restaurants were worth $37,165,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 40.8% during the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 92,176 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,319,000 after acquiring an additional 26,722 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 21.0% in the first 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 buying an additional 51,364 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 298.7% in the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 141,556 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,097,000 after buying an additional 106,054 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $3,250,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the second quarter worth approximately $187,000. Institutional investors own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Benchmark lowered BJ’s Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.63.

Insider Activity at BJ’s Restaurants

In related news, CEO C Bradford Richmond bought 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $29.40 per share, for a total transaction of $73,500.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 16,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $497,007. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 4.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of BJRI stock opened at $32.56 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $761.35 million, a PE ratio of 32.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 2.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $31.11 and a 200-day moving average of $33.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.27. BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $21.64 and a one year high of $38.87.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $349.93 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $349.18 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current year.

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.