BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Shares Acquired by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) by 111.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,329 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,400 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in BJ’s Restaurants were worth $1,608,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in BJ’s Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the 1st quarter worth $45,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the second quarter worth $57,000. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 247.8% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,864 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328 shares during the period. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants in the second quarter valued at approximately $187,000. 99.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BJRI opened at $33.40 on Friday. BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.64 and a 52 week high of $38.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $780.99 million, a PE ratio of 33.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 2.12. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.41.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ’s Restaurants

In related news, CEO C Bradford Richmond acquired 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $29.40 per share, with a total value of $73,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 4.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.