BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ) Receives $74.40 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fourteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $74.40.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BJ shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $79.00 to $78.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded BJ’s Wholesale Club from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $81.00 to $87.00 in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Loop Capital reissued a “hold” rating and set a $80.00 price target (down previously from $85.00) on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, February 7th.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Stock Performance

Shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club stock opened at $76.66 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $74.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.81, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.26. BJ’s Wholesale Club has a 12 month low of $60.33 and a 12 month high of $80.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.14.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $5.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.38 billion. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a net margin of 2.64% and a return on equity of 40.84%. BJ’s Wholesale Club’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that BJ’s Wholesale Club will post 3.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at BJ’s Wholesale Club

In related news, Director Christopher J. Baldwin sold 73,062 shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.95, for a total transaction of $5,402,934.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 173,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,815,091.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.70, for a total value of $843,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 500,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,410,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Christopher J. Baldwin sold 73,062 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.95, for a total value of $5,402,934.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 173,294 shares in the company, valued at $12,815,091.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 98,840 shares of company stock worth $7,408,605. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of BJ’s Wholesale Club

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 39.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,013,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,142,898,000 after acquiring an additional 4,548,963 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,136,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,385,000 after acquiring an additional 590,113 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 10.3% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,940,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $281,229,000 after acquiring an additional 369,317 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 5.9% in the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 3,883,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $277,146,000 after acquiring an additional 217,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 3,647,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,174,000 after acquiring an additional 150,414 shares in the last quarter. 98.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.