BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) Research Coverage Started at DA Davidson

DA Davidson started coverage on shares of BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) in a research note released on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $38.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on BJRI. Wall Street Zen downgraded BJ’s Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 9th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on BJ’s Restaurants from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Barclays upped their price objective on BJ’s Restaurants from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Benchmark lifted their target price on BJ’s Restaurants from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, BJ’s Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.38.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Down 1.8%

BJ’s Restaurants stock opened at $35.18 on Friday. BJ’s Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $28.46 and a fifty-two week high of $47.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.40. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.97. The stock has a market cap of $745.82 million, a PE ratio of 16.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.32.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The restaurant operator reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.06. BJ’s Restaurants had a net margin of 3.49% and a return on equity of 13.82%. The firm had revenue of $355.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $353.71 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that BJ’s Restaurants will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director C Bradford Richmond bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $34.50 per share, with a total value of $34,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 17,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $610,650. This represents a 5.99% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Brian S. Krakower sold 8,017 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total value of $317,553.37. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 4,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $174,640.49. The trade was a 64.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 4.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. UBS Group AG raised its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 576.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,451,883 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $44,326,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237,383 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 23.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,362,763 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $102,665,000 after purchasing an additional 640,648 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 233.6% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 628,445 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,029,000 after purchasing an additional 440,078 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the second quarter worth about $13,380,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,863,000. Institutional investors own 99.95% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting BJ’s Restaurants

Here are the key news stories impacting BJ’s Restaurants this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company director C. Bradford Richmond increased his stake with two recent purchases (1,200 shares on Mar 3 at $35.10 and 1,000 shares on Mar 6 at $34.50). Combined, these buys raise insider ownership and can be interpreted as management confidence in the stock’s near-term outlook. Mar 3 SEC Filing Mar 6 SEC Filing InsiderTrades Article
• Neutral Sentiment: DA Davidson initiated coverage with a “neutral” rating and a $38 price target (roughly mid-single-digit upside from current levels). New coverage can increase trading interest but does not shift consensus sentiment materially. Benzinga Coverage Note
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data in recent reports shows zeros/NaN (data error or reporting lag) and a 0.0 days-to-cover figure — this appears to be a reporting artifact rather than a meaningful change in short activity. Investors should watch for corrected short-interest releases. (No external link available in the feed.)
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent quarterly results (Feb. 25) beat EPS and revenue expectations modestly; that fundamental beat supports the longer-term case but didn’t prevent intraday weakness amid higher volume. For background on results and analyst targets, see the MarketBeat summary. MarketBeat BJRI Summary

About BJ’s Restaurants

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc is a publicly traded casual dining chain known for its deep‐dish pizzas, California‐style thin crust offerings and in‐house craft beer selections. Operating under the BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse brand, the company combines a microbrewery concept with full‐service dining, offering an extensive menu that includes appetizers, salads, pasta dishes, sandwiches and the signature Pizookie dessert.

Founded in 1978 in Orange County, California, BJ’s Restaurants began as BJ’s Chicago Pizzeria, bringing a Chicago‐style pizza experience to the West Coast.