BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) Hits New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $102.00 to $108.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. BJ’s Wholesale Club traded as high as $96.29 and last traded at $96.24, with a volume of 145996 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $92.79.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded BJ’s Wholesale Club from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BJ’s Wholesale Club has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.40, for a total transaction of $873,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 445,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,395,884.80. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Joseph Mcgrail sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.57, for a total transaction of $83,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,133,710.62. This trade represents a 6.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 34,000 shares of company stock worth $2,818,390. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ’s Wholesale Club

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 47.3% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 2,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,000 after purchasing an additional 654 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 18,120 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,495,000 after buying an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in the 3rd quarter worth $828,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 4.2% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $727,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 1.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,215,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $182,770,000 after acquiring an additional 34,940 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.60% of the company’s stock.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Stock Up 4.3 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.83 billion, a PE ratio of 23.25, a PEG ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $85.83 and its 200-day moving average is $85.40.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.09. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a return on equity of 35.41% and a net margin of 2.71%. The business had revenue of $5.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current year.

About BJ’s Wholesale Club

BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates warehouse clubs on the eastern half of the United States. It provides groceries, general merchandise, gasoline and other ancillary services, coupon books, and promotions. The company sells its products through the websites BJs.com, BerkleyJensen.com, and Wellsleyfarms.com, as well as the mobile app.