BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Melius Research

Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) in a report published on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $90.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on BJ. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Roth Mkm upped their price target on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised BJ’s Wholesale Club from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and upped their target price for the company from $75.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $86.31.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Stock Performance

Shares of BJ stock opened at $82.06 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $10.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.31, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.24. BJ’s Wholesale Club has a 52-week low of $63.08 and a 52-week high of $92.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company’s 50 day moving average is $83.47 and its 200 day moving average is $82.16.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.09. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a return on equity of 36.12% and a net margin of 2.62%. The business had revenue of $5.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BJ’s Wholesale Club will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ’s Wholesale Club

In other news, SVP Joseph Mcgrail sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.57, for a total value of $83,570.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,566 shares in the company, valued at $1,133,710.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.40, for a total transaction of $873,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 445,792 shares in the company, valued at $35,395,884.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Joseph Mcgrail sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.57, for a total value of $83,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,133,710.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 79,438 shares of company stock worth $6,980,938. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ’s Wholesale Club

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new position in BJ’s Wholesale Club in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BJ’s Wholesale Club in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in BJ’s Wholesale Club in the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 394.5% during the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 628 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 103.6% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the period. 98.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.