BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Melius Research

Melius Research began coverage on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price target on the stock. Melius Research’s price target indicates a potential upside of 10.96% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $92.00 in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Bank of America cut 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 report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price target on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.31.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Stock Performance

NYSE BJ traded up $0.12 on Monday, reaching $81.11. 312,437 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,523,074. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $82.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.76 billion, a PE ratio of 21.09, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.24. BJ’s Wholesale Club has a one year low of $63.08 and a one year high of $92.37.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.09. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a return on equity of 36.12% and a net margin of 2.62%. The business had revenue of $5.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that BJ’s Wholesale Club will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Graham Luce sold 16,596 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.15, for a total transaction of $1,512,725.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,131 shares in the company, valued at $1,288,040.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.40, for a total value of $873,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 445,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,395,884.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Graham Luce sold 16,596 shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.15, for a total transaction of $1,512,725.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,288,040.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 79,438 shares of company stock worth $6,980,938 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BJ’s Wholesale Club

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BJ. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 16.9% in the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 1,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,496,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 23.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 30,242 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,656,000 after purchasing an additional 5,800 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 228,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,075,000 after purchasing an additional 14,329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 123.2% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,000 after buying an additional 828 shares during the period. 98.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.