Short Interest in BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Drops By 14.7%

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,160,000 shares, a decline of 14.7% from the February 13th total of 1,360,000 shares. Currently, 5.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 279,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.2 days.

BJ’s Restaurants Price Performance

BJRI stock opened at $33.91 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.04 and a quick ratio of 0.28. BJ’s Restaurants has a 1 year low of $27.61 and a 1 year high of $41.72. The stock has a market cap of $770.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 2.10.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The restaurant operator reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $344.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $336.48 million. BJ’s Restaurants had a net margin of 1.23% and a return on equity of 8.76%. Research analysts anticipate that BJ’s Restaurants will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Gordon Haskett raised shares of BJ’s Restaurants from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $36.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of BJ’s Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.40.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 764.9% during the third 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. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,902 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth approximately $108,000. Arizona State Retirement System bought a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth approximately $200,000. Finally, Two Sigma Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth approximately $201,000. 99.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.