BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Friday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $37.09, but opened at $35.07. BJ’s Restaurants shares last traded at $35.06, with a volume of 122,549 shares traded.

The restaurant operator reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by ($0.16). BJ’s Restaurants had a net margin of 2.19% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The company had revenue of $325.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $324.97 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.16) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on BJRI. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Benchmark downgraded BJ’s Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO C Bradford Richmond purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $29.40 per share, for a total transaction of $73,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 16,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $497,007. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 4.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Olympiad Research LP bought a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $469,000. Emerald Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 569,221 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $18,534,000 after acquiring an additional 4,009 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 142.9% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,540 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 906 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 34,097 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,110,000 after purchasing an additional 4,440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in BJ’s Restaurants in the 3rd quarter worth $500,000. 99.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Performance

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 $794.69 million, a PE ratio of 27.86, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 2.12. The business’s 50-day moving average is $32.88 and its 200 day moving average is $33.45.

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.