Short Interest in BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Declines By 7.4%

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,890,000 shares, a decrease of 7.4% from the August 31st total of 2,040,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 432,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days. Currently, 9.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Benchmark lowered BJ’s Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.63.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of BJRI stock traded up $0.59 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $33.15. 11,019 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 392,868. BJ’s Restaurants has a 12 month low of $21.64 and a 12 month high of $38.87. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $31.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.43. The company has a market cap of $775.15 million, a P/E ratio of 32.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 2.12.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The restaurant operator reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $349.18 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that BJ’s Restaurants will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at BJ’s Restaurants

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. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 4.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake 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. RK Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. RK Capital Management LLC now owns 341,600 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $12,301,000 after buying an additional 12,500 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 2.0% in the second quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 302,152 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,485,000 after acquiring an additional 5,976 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 6.2% during the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 142,622 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,949,000 after acquiring an additional 8,323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC lifted 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 valued at $5,097,000 after acquiring an additional 106,054 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

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.