BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Citigroup Analyst Says

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) had its price objective upped by Citigroup from $94.00 to $101.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on BJ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded BJ’s Wholesale Club from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $76.00 to $78.00 in a report on Monday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America dropped 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 research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.00.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE BJ opened at $93.77 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.54, a PEG ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.76. BJ’s Wholesale Club has a one year low of $64.06 and a one year high of $100.74. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $90.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.35.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.29. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a return on equity of 35.41% and a net margin of 2.71%. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BJ’s Wholesale Club will post 3.95 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BJ’s Wholesale Club news, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.75, for a total value of $921,250.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 434,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,413,830. This trade represents a 2.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ’s Wholesale Club

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BJ. Creative Planning boosted its stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 9,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $817,000 after purchasing an additional 898 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club during the third quarter worth approximately $828,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 129.0% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 38,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,215,000 after buying an additional 21,957 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,439,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $531,118,000 after buying an additional 217,385 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 123.2% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,000 after acquiring an additional 828 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.60% of the company’s stock.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Company Profile

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.