Eagle Asset Management Inc. Invests $4.31 Million in BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 121,313 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $4,310,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 272 Capital LP purchased a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants in the second quarter valued at $1,173,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants in the second quarter valued at $3,250,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its holdings in BJ’s Restaurants by 75.9% in the third quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 82,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,696,000 after purchasing an additional 35,722 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in BJ’s Restaurants by 2.0% in the second quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 302,152 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,485,000 after purchasing an additional 5,976 shares during the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth about $187,000. 99.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BJ’s Restaurants Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of BJ’s Restaurants stock opened at $35.34 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $806.46 million, a PE ratio of 28.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 2.10. BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.61 and a twelve month high of $38.87. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $34.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $325.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.97 million. BJ’s Restaurants had a net margin of 2.24% and a return on equity of 7.98%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.16) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. will post 1.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.57.

Insider Transactions at BJ’s Restaurants

In other news, CEO C Bradford Richmond purchased 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $29.40 per share, for a total transaction of $73,500.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 16,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $497,007. This represents a 17.36 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 2,313 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was 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 represents a 30.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 4.90% 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.