BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) by 5.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 109,081 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 6,209 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in BJ’s Restaurants were worth $3,552,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 11,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $409,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. ClariVest Asset Management LLC grew its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC now owns 29,089 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 906 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 5.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,021 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $689,000 after purchasing an additional 936 shares during the period. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd raised its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 29,499 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,024,000 after buying an additional 1,058 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Performance

NASDAQ BJRI opened at $34.52 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.69. BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.61 and a twelve month high of $38.87. The stock has a market cap of $787.75 million, a P/E ratio of 27.30, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 2.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.15). BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 7.98% and a net margin of 2.24%. The company had revenue of $325.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.97 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.16) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BJRI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price target on BJ’s Restaurants from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark downgraded shares of BJ’s Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BJ’s Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.57.

Insider Transactions at BJ’s Restaurants

In other news, CEO C Bradford Richmond acquired 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $29.40 per share, for a total transaction of $73,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 16,905 shares in the company, valued at $497,007. This represents a 17.36 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 2,313 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.60, for a total transaction of $82,342.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $190,068.40. This represents a 30.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.