BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Lowered to Market Perform Rating by Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer lowered shares of BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays reduced their price target on BJ’s Restaurants from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on BJ’s Restaurants from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.33.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of BJRI stock opened at $35.24 on Tuesday. BJ’s Restaurants has a twelve month low of $27.61 and a twelve month high of $38.87. The stock has a market cap of $804.07 million, a P/E ratio of 28.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 2.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $35.89 and a 200 day moving average of $33.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 2,313 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.60, for a total value of $82,342.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $190,068.40. This represents a 30.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 764.9% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 813 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in BJ’s Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 142.9% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,540 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the third quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

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.