BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) gapped down prior to trading on Friday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $37.09, but opened at $35.07. BJ’s Restaurants shares last traded at $35.06, with a volume of 122,549 shares.

The restaurant operator reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by ($0.16). BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 2.19%. The firm had revenue of $325.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.97 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.16) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on BJRI shares. Benchmark lowered shares of BJ’s Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays cut 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BJ’s Restaurants news, CEO C Bradford Richmond purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were bought 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $497,007. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 4.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in BJ’s Restaurants by 27.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 529,116 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $18,360,000 after purchasing an additional 114,008 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth $3,250,000. Armistice Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the second quarter valued at $2,602,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 21.0% during the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 296,176 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,716,000 after buying an additional 51,364 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in BJ’s Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $1,228,000. 99.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BJ’s Restaurants Trading Down 5.6 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $819.00 million, a P/E ratio of 27.84, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 2.12. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.44.

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.