BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ) Short Interest Update

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ) saw a significant drop in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,230,000 shares, a drop of 7.7% from the May 31st total of 12,170,000 shares. Currently, 8.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,660,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.8 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ’s Wholesale Club

In related news, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.70, for a total transaction 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Monica Schwartz sold 13,578 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.81, for a total value of $1,070,082.18. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 13,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,067,481.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.70, for a total transaction of $843,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 500,792 shares in the company, valued at $38,410,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,684 shares of company stock worth $4,160,168 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ’s Wholesale Club

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BJ. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in BJ’s Wholesale Club in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 36.7% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club during the 4th quarter worth $78,000. Finally, Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel purchased a new stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in the 4th quarter worth about $80,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on BJ shares. Gordon Haskett raised shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded BJ’s Wholesale Club from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $81.00 to $87.00 in a research report on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group increased their price objective on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.06.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:BJ traded up $0.47 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $86.10. 700,395 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,504,150. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.14. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $83.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.36, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.23. BJ’s Wholesale Club has a 12-month low of $62.28 and a 12-month high of $90.43.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.02. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a return on equity of 37.78% and a net margin of 2.59%. The firm had revenue of $4.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that BJ’s Wholesale Club will post 3.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.