BJ's Restaurants drops on light volume as CEO steps down
29/08/2024 15:56
** Shares of BJ's Restaurants BJRI.O fall >3% on Thurs
after casual dining chain announced senior management transition
** Co late Weds said CEO Gregory Levin steps down and
vacates board position, effective immediately
** Current board member and former finance chief of Darden
Restaurants C. Bradford Richmond named interim CEO
** Levin was appointed CEO in 2021 and was CFO prior to that
** Board chair Lea Anne S. Ottinger thanked Levin for his 19
years of service with co, saying he played an essential role
expanding chain's expansion to 217 restaurants in 19 states, as
well as stabilizing it "during these past few tumultuous years
in our industry"
** BJRI shares fell ~15% on Jul 26, a day after co reported
total rev of ~$350 mln, inline with consensus, including 0.6%
yr/yr decline in comp-restaurant-sales
** Shares on Thurs last down 3.4% at $30.86 on about 78k
shares of trading volume. Stock's 10-DMA is roughly 355k, per
LSEG data
** With move on Thurs, stock down 14% YTD
** 4 of 10 brokerages rate BJRI "strong buy" or "buy", 4
rate "hold", while rest recommend "sell" or "strong sell" and
their median PT is $41
(Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed
are his own)
((lance.tupper@thomsonreuters.com
lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380))