Brinker International (NYSE: EAT) and BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) are both small-cap retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitabiliy, valuation, risk and earnings.
Profitability
This table compares Brinker International and BJ’s Restaurants’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Brinker International | 5.05% | -39.89% | 12.27% |
| BJ’s Restaurants | 4.29% | 14.86% | 6.21% |
Volatility & Risk
Brinker International has a beta of 0.27, meaning that its share price is 73% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BJ’s Restaurants has a beta of 1.1, meaning that its share price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
94.5% of BJ’s Restaurants shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.8% of Brinker International shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 6.8% of BJ’s Restaurants shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Brinker International and BJ’s Restaurants, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Brinker International | 1 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 2.13 |
| BJ’s Restaurants | 2 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1.90 |
Brinker International currently has a consensus target price of $47.25, suggesting a potential upside of 30.63%. BJ’s Restaurants has a consensus target price of $38.50, suggesting a potential upside of 10.95%. Given Brinker International’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Brinker International is more favorable than BJ’s Restaurants.
Dividends
Brinker International pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. BJ’s Restaurants does not pay a dividend. Brinker International pays out 44.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Brinker International has raised its dividend for 6 consecutive years.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Brinker International and BJ’s Restaurants’ revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | EBITDA | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Brinker International | $3.22 billion | 0.55 | $457.47 million | $3.08 | 11.74 |
| BJ’s Restaurants | $1.01 billion | 0.74 | $126.57 million | $1.83 | 18.96 |
Brinker International has higher revenue and earnings than BJ’s Restaurants. Brinker International is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than BJ’s Restaurants, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Brinker International beats BJ’s Restaurants on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Brinker International
Brinker International, Inc. is engaged in the ownership, operation, development, and franchising of the Chili’s Grill & Bar (Chili’s) and Maggiano’s Little Italy (Maggiano’s) restaurant brands. The Company’s Chili’s operates Bar & Grill category of casual dining. Chili’s menu features authentic Fresh Mex and Fresh Tex cuisine, including signature items, such as Baby Back Ribs smoked in-house, Hand-Crafted Burgers served with house-made garlic dill pickles, Mix and Match Fajitas, Tableside Guacamole and house-made Chips and Salsa. Maggiano’s is a full-service, casual dining Italian restaurant brand. Its Maggiano’s restaurants feature individual and family-style menus, and its restaurants also has banquet facilities designed to host party business or social events. The Company owns, operates or franchises restaurants, which include approximately 1,650 restaurants in the United States, over 30 countries and approximately two territories outside of the United States.
About BJ’s Restaurants
BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. owns and operates restaurants. The Company segment includes casual dining company-owned restaurants. Each of its restaurants is operated either as a BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, a BJ’s Restaurant & Brewery, a BJ’s Pizza & Grill or a BJ’s Grill restaurant. The Company’s restaurants offer craft beers and other beers, as well as a selection of appetizers, entrees, pastas, burgers and sandwiches, specialty salads, and desserts, including its warm pizza cookie dessert, the Pizookie. As of February 27, 2017, the Company owned and operated 189 restaurants located in 24 states of Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Washington.
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