Reviewing Brinker International (EAT) and BJ’s Restaurants (BJRI)

Brinker International (NYSE: EAT) and BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) are both small-cap retail/wholesale companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, valuation, profitabiliy, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Volatility & Risk

Brinker International has a beta of 0.25, suggesting that its share price is 75% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BJ’s Restaurants has a beta of 1.08, suggesting that its share price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Brinker International and BJ’s Restaurants’ revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	EBITDA	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Brinker International	$3.22 billion	0.53	$457.47 million	$3.08	11.27
BJ’s Restaurants	$1.02 billion	0.70	$121.81 million	$1.71	19.50

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.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

94.8% of BJ’s Restaurants shares are held by institutional investors. 1.8% of Brinker International shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.8% of BJ’s Restaurants shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

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	3.82%	14.51%	5.71%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary 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	12	3	0	2.13
BJ’s Restaurants	2	7	1	0	1.90

Brinker International currently has a consensus price target of $45.75, suggesting a potential upside of 31.81%. BJ’s Restaurants has a consensus price target of $38.88, suggesting a potential upside of 16.57%. Given Brinker International’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities 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 3.9%. 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.

Summary

Brinker International beats BJ’s Restaurants on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

Brinker International Company Profile

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.

BJ’s Restaurants Company Profile

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.