BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) Given Buy Rating at UBS Group

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at UBS Group in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $135.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $129.00. UBS Group’s price target indicates a potential upside of 15.77% from the company’s current price.

BJ has been the topic of several other research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $80.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $109.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $102.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BJ’s Wholesale Club presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.75.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BJ opened at $116.62 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.03, a P/E/G ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $114.74 and a 200-day moving average of $103.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. BJ’s Wholesale Club has a 12 month low of $76.33 and a 12 month high of $121.10.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $5.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.18 billion. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a return on equity of 35.41% and a net margin of 2.71%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BJ’s Wholesale Club will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at BJ’s Wholesale Club

In related news, SVP Joseph Mcgrail sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.74, for a total transaction of $251,454.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,705,097.60. This trade represents a 12.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert Allan Steele sold 11,813 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.59, for a total value of $1,270,960.67. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,619,924.09. The trade was a 32.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 328,505 shares of company stock valued at $37,452,686 over the last ninety days. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of BJ’s Wholesale Club

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BJ. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,268,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,775,000 after buying an additional 504,958 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 0.8% during the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 4,366,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $498,219,000 after buying an additional 35,130 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 65.9% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,186,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $477,709,000 after buying an additional 1,662,415 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 29.8% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,228,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,393,000 after buying an additional 741,782 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 199.7% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,986,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $340,759,000 after buying an additional 1,989,980 shares during the period. 98.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Company Profile

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc engages in the operation of membership warehouse clubs. Its product categories include grocery, household and pet, television and electronics, furniture, computer and tablets, patio and outdoor living, lawn and garden, baby and kids, toys, home, health and beauty, appliances, and jewelry.