BJ’s Wholesale Club’s (BJ) “Hold” Rating Reaffirmed at Loop Capital

Loop Capital reiterated their hold rating on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Loop Capital currently has a $80.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $85.00.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on 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. Wells Fargo & Company restated an equal weight rating and set a $70.00 price objective (down from $73.00) on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Gordon Haskett downgraded BJ’s Wholesale Club from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded BJ’s Wholesale Club from a neutral rating to a buy rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $81.00 to $87.00 in a report on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $74.40.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Price Performance

BJ’s Wholesale Club stock opened at $72.55 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $9.65 billion, a PE ratio of 18.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $73.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.37.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.05. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a return on equity of 40.84% and a net margin of 2.64%. The company had revenue of $5.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that BJ’s Wholesale Club will post 3.91 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ’s Wholesale Club

In other BJ’s Wholesale Club news, SVP Joseph Mcgrail sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $77,370.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $998,459.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Monica Schwartz sold 13,578 shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.81, for a total transaction of $1,070,082.18. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 13,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,067,481.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Joseph Mcgrail sold 1,000 shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $77,370.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $998,459.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 98,840 shares of company stock valued at $7,408,605. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 45.3% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 159.9% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortis Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other 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.