BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) Given Hold Rating at Loop Capital

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ)‘s stock had its “hold” rating restated by Loop Capital in a note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $80.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of $85.00. Loop Capital’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 8.47% from the stock’s current price.

BJ has been the subject of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded BJ’s Wholesale Club from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $81.00 to $87.00 in a report on Monday, April 8th. Gordon Haskett lowered shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $70.00 price target (down previously from $73.00) on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $79.00 to $78.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BJ’s Wholesale Club presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.40.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Stock Performance

NYSE BJ opened at $73.75 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $9.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.26. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $73.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.38. BJ’s Wholesale Club has a 1-year low of $60.33 and a 1-year high of $80.42.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ’s Wholesale Club

In related news, SVP Joseph Mcgrail sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 12,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $998,459.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Joseph Mcgrail sold 1,000 shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $998,459.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Christopher J. Baldwin sold 73,062 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 173,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,815,091.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 98,840 shares of company stock worth $7,408,605 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ’s Wholesale Club

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BJ. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club during the first quarter worth $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 45.3% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 491 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in BJ’s Wholesale Club during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank lifted its position in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 159.9% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.60% of the company’s stock.

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.