Citigroup Increases BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) Price Target to $43.00

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) had its target price upped by stock analysts at Citigroup from $40.00 to $43.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Citigroup’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 58.50% from the company’s current price.

BJ has been the subject of a number of other reports. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $106.00 price objective (up from $101.00) on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $109.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. DA Davidson increased their price target on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised BJ’s Wholesale Club from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $127.00 price target (up previously from $125.00) on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, BJ’s Wholesale Club presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.00.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of BJ opened at $103.62 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.65. BJ’s Wholesale Club has a one year low of $76.33 and a one year high of $121.10. The company has a market capitalization of $13.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.10, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.14.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $5.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.18 billion. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 2.76%. The business’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that BJ’s Wholesale Club will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ’s Wholesale Club

In other news, Director Steven L. Ortega acquired 1,740 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $114.60 per share, for a total transaction of $199,404.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 8,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $990,258.60. The trade was a 25.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Paul Cichocki sold 43,825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.65, for a total transaction of $4,673,936.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 172,563 shares in the company, valued at $18,403,843.95. The trade was a 20.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 79,625 shares of company stock worth $8,595,110. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 22.0% in the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 510 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 1.9% in the second quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 5,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $558,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 0.3% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 37,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,000,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 4.3% in the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 2.9% in the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 3,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.60% of the company’s stock.

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.