American Century Companies Inc. Buys 114,008 Shares of BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI)

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) by 27.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 529,116 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 114,008 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 2.26% of BJ’s Restaurants worth $18,360,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in BJ’s Restaurants by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 327,259 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $11,785,000 after acquiring an additional 4,163 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in BJ’s Restaurants by 141.0% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 743 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in BJ’s Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $578,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in BJ’s Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $95,000. Finally, TCW Group Inc. grew its holdings in BJ’s Restaurants by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 149,578 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,386,000 after acquiring an additional 12,012 shares in the last quarter. 99.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at BJ’s Restaurants

In related 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 purchased at an average cost of $29.40 per share, with a total value of $73,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 16,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $497,007. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 4.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ:BJRI opened at $32.83 on Friday. BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.64 and a fifty-two week high of $38.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $767.66 million, a P/E ratio of 32.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 2.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.35. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.66.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The restaurant operator reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $349.93 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $349.18 million. BJ’s Restaurants had a net margin of 2.19% and a return on equity of 7.83%. BJ’s Restaurants’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.