Luxor Capital Group LP Acquires New Holdings in BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI)

Luxor Capital Group LP bought a new position in BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 30,241 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,049,000. BJ’s Restaurants accounts for about 0.1% of Luxor Capital Group LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Luxor Capital Group LP owned approximately 0.13% of BJ’s Restaurants at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 27.5% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 529,116 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $18,360,000 after acquiring an additional 114,008 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 106,054 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,250,000. Armistice Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,602,000. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $10,716,000 after buying an additional 51,364 shares during the last quarter. 99.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BJ’s Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of BJ’s Restaurants stock opened at $32.40 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $757.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.40, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 2.12. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.52. BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.64 and a 52 week high of $38.87.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 2.19%. The business had revenue of $349.93 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $349.18 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO C Bradford Richmond purchased 2,500 shares of BJ’s Restaurants stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were bought 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 in the company, valued at approximately $497,007. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 4.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on BJRI. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Benchmark lowered BJ’s Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Barclays decreased 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. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.