Do Hedge Funds Love BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (BJRI)?

Now, specific money managers have jumped into BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) headfirst. Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, created the most outsized position in BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI), having reported a $1.4 million investment in the company at the end of the quarter. Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital also made a $1.2 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Chao Ku’s Nine Chapters Capital Management, Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management, and Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI). We will take a look at Sturm, Ruger & Company (NYSE:RGR), Forum Energy Technologies Inc (NYSE:FET), Forward Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:FWP), and Insperity Inc (NYSE:NSP). This group of stocks’ market values resembles BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI)’s market value.

As you can see, these stocks had an average of 16 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $157 million. Insperity Inc (NYSE:NSP) was the most popular stock in this table, with the highest number of hedge fund holdings at 25, whereas Forward Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:FWP) was the least sought after stock, with 11 hedge fund holdings only. BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) is not the most popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still above average. Despite the increased hedge fund interest in BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI), we would target stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this context, Insperity Inc (NYSE:NSP) outweighs other stocks under consideration, and might be worth a place in your portfolio.