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

Shares of BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-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 trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Benchmark lifted their price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BJ’s Restaurants has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.30.

BJ’s Restaurants Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $829.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 2.13. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BJ’s Restaurants news, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 1,600 shares of BJ’s Restaurants stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.56, for a total value of $56,896.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $272,105.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 4.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 20,337 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $736,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 10.8% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 6,487 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $235,000 after acquiring an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,545 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $200,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 141.0% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 743 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,021 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $689,000 after purchasing an additional 936 shares during the last quarter. 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. The company was formerly known as Chicago Pizza & Brewery, Inc and changed its name to BJ's Restaurants, Inc in August 2004.