BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Reaches New 52-Week High Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $41.72 and last traded at $38.46, with a volume of 70230 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $35.74.

The restaurant operator reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $344.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $336.48 million. BJ’s Restaurants had a net margin of 2.24% and a return on equity of 7.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on BJRI shares. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of BJ’s Restaurants from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $36.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays upped 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. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut shares of BJ’s Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BJ’s Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.40.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ’s Restaurants

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 75.9% during the 3rd quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 82,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,696,000 after acquiring an additional 35,722 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,310,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,064,000. Olympiad Research LP purchased a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the 3rd quarter valued at about $469,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC increased its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 528.9% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 155,383 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,059,000 after purchasing an additional 130,676 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Up 6.6 %

The stock has a market cap of $869.21 million, a PE ratio of 30.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 2.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.35. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $35.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.16.

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.