BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $38.87 and last traded at $38.53, with a volume of 23173 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $37.84.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on BJ’s Restaurants from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler raised their price target on BJ’s Restaurants from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BJ’s Restaurants has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.57.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Up 1.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $877.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 2.10. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $34.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.82.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 7.98% and a net margin of 2.24%. The business had revenue of $325.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.97 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.16) EPS. BJ’s Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 2,313 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.60, for a total transaction of $82,342.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $190,068.40. This trade represents a 30.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO C Bradford Richmond bought 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $29.40 per share, with a total value of $73,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 16,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $497,007. This represents a 17.36 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 4.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of BJ’s Restaurants

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 764.9% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 813 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in BJ’s Restaurants during the second quarter worth approximately $40,000. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 142.9% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,540 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 906 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $57,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 247.8% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,864 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 1,328 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.