Q2 2017 Earnings Estimate for BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. Issued By Oppenheimer Holdings (NASDAQ:BJRI)

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) – Equities research analysts at Oppenheimer Holdings reduced their Q2 2017 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for BJ’s Restaurants in a report issued on Monday. Oppenheimer Holdings analyst B. Bittner now forecasts that the restaurant operator will post earnings per share of $0.48 for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.53. Oppenheimer Holdings also issued estimates for BJ’s Restaurants’ Q3 2017 earnings at $0.39 EPS, FY2017 earnings at $1.78 EPS and FY2018 earnings at $1.99 EPS.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ:BJRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The restaurant operator reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $257.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $255.66 million. BJ’s Restaurants had a return on equity of 14.86% and a net margin of 4.29%. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. TRADEMARK VIOLATION WARNING: “[[title]]” was originally posted by [[site]] and is owned by of [[site]]. If you are accessing this piece on another domain, it was stolen and republished in violation of United States and international copyright laws. The correct version of this piece can be viewed at [[permalink]].

BJRI has been the topic of several other research reports. Wedbush restated a “hold” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, May 25th. Canaccord Genuity restated a “hold” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research report on Friday, April 28th. Jefferies Group LLC restated a “hold” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, April 27th. Piper Jaffray Companies restated a “hold” rating and issued a $44.00 price target on shares of BJ’s Restaurants in a research report on Friday, July 14th. Finally, BidaskClub cut BJ’s Restaurants from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.67.

BJ’s Restaurants (NASDAQ BJRI) opened at 34.70 on Tuesday. BJ’s Restaurants has a one year low of $32.24 and a one year high of $47.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $748.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.93 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $37.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.27.

BJ’s Restaurants announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, April 27th that permits the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to purchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

In other BJ’s Restaurants news, insider Alex Puchner sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.75, for a total transaction of $179,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Kevin E. Mayer sold 4,468 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.46, for a total value of $203,115.28. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $264,440.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,793 shares of company stock worth $1,035,319. 6.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BJRI. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of BJ’s Restaurants by 132,808.6% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,518,618 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $101,752,000 after buying an additional 2,516,723 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $7,030,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 50.5% in the second quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 352,993 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $13,149,000 after buying an additional 118,413 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new stake in BJ’s Restaurants during the first quarter worth approximately $3,183,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in BJ’s Restaurants by 400.2% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 85,561 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,456,000 after buying an additional 68,455 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.