Short Interest in BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) Decreases By 7.4%

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,890,000 shares, a decline of 7.4% from the August 31st total of 2,040,000 shares. Currently, 9.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 432,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.4 days.

BJ’s Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BJRI traded up $0.59 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $33.15. The company had a trading volume of 11,019 shares, compared to its average volume of 392,868. The stock has a market cap of $775.15 million, a P/E ratio of 32.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 2.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. BJ’s Restaurants has a 52-week low of $21.64 and a 52-week high of $38.87. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $31.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.43.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The restaurant operator reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.21. BJ’s Restaurants had a net margin of 2.19% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The company had revenue of $349.93 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $349.18 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. BJ’s Restaurants’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BJ’s Restaurants will post 1.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at BJ’s Restaurants

In other BJ’s Restaurants news, CEO C Bradford Richmond bought 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $29.40 per share, with a total value of $73,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 16,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $497,007. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 4.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of BJ’s Restaurants

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BJRI. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants during the first quarter worth $45,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants in the second quarter valued at $57,000. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in BJ’s Restaurants by 247.8% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,864 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in BJ’s Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth about $187,000. 99.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on BJRI shares. Benchmark downgraded shares of BJ’s Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.63.

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.