William Blair Has Optimistic Outlook of BJRI FY2024 Earnings

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) – Equities research analysts at William Blair increased their FY2024 EPS estimates for BJ’s Restaurants in a note issued to investors on Monday, January 20th. William Blair analyst S. Zackfia now anticipates that the restaurant operator will post earnings per share of $1.25 for the year, up from their previous estimate of $1.23. The consensus estimate for BJ’s Restaurants’ current full-year earnings is $1.26 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for BJ’s Restaurants’ Q4 2024 earnings at $0.34 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $0.54 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $1.45 EPS.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.15). BJ’s Restaurants had a net margin of 2.24% and a return on equity of 7.98%. The company had revenue of $325.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.97 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.16) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on BJRI. Gordon Haskett raised BJ’s Restaurants from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $36.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Oppenheimer cut shares of BJ’s Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler boosted 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 report on Monday, November 4th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of BJ’s Restaurants from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BJ’s Restaurants has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.00.

BJ’s Restaurants Price Performance

BJRI opened at $35.48 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $35.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.94. 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 has a 1 year low of $27.61 and a 1 year high of $38.87. The stock has a market cap of $809.65 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.38, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 2.10.

Insider Activity at BJ’s Restaurants

In related news, insider Brian S. Krakower sold 2,313 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.60, for a total transaction of $82,342.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $190,068.40. The trade was a 30.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 4.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of BJRI. Emerald Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 0.7% in the third quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 569,221 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $18,534,000 after acquiring an additional 4,009 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in BJ’s Restaurants by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 493,006 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,056,000 after purchasing an additional 5,075 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its holdings in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 342,436 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $11,150,000 after purchasing an additional 40,284 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 528.9% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 155,383 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,059,000 after buying an additional 130,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 10.4% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 131,876 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,294,000 after buying an additional 12,432 shares during the period. 99.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.