BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Stock Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average of $34.53

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $34.53 and traded as high as $35.48. BJ’s Restaurants shares last traded at $35.47, with a volume of 413,343 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on BJ’s Restaurants from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Benchmark upped their target price on BJ’s Restaurants from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BJ’s Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.60.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $838.87 million, a P/E ratio of 35.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 2.13. The business has a fifty day moving average of $34.69 and a 200 day moving average of $34.57.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $337.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $335.35 million. BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 6.51% and a net margin of 1.80%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.15 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BJ’s Restaurants news, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.56, for a total value of $56,896.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,652 shares in the company, valued at $272,105.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 4.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BJRI. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in BJ’s Restaurants by 298.7% in the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 141,556 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,097,000 after purchasing an additional 106,054 shares in the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 102.9% in the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 124,838 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,495,000 after acquiring an additional 63,299 shares during the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $2,199,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 51,364 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 166.3% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 65,454 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,536,000 after acquiring an additional 40,878 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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. The company was formerly known as Chicago Pizza & Brewery, Inc and changed its name to BJ's Restaurants, Inc in August 2004.