BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) Upgraded to “Buy” at Gordon Haskett

Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. Gordon Haskett currently has $90.00 price target on the stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the company from $81.00 to $87.00 in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Loop Capital reiterated a hold rating and set a $80.00 price objective (down previously from $85.00) on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $75.73.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BJ opened at $83.14 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $76.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.71. BJ’s Wholesale Club has a 52 week low of $60.33 and a 52 week high of $85.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.48, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $5.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. BJ’s Wholesale Club’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that BJ’s Wholesale Club will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Joseph Mcgrail sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $998,459.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other BJ’s Wholesale Club news, EVP Monica Schwartz sold 13,578 shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.81, for a total transaction of $1,070,082.18. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 13,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,067,481.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction of $77,370.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $998,459.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 98,840 shares of company stock valued at $7,408,605. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 39.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,013,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,142,898,000 after purchasing an additional 4,548,963 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,136,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,385,000 after purchasing an additional 590,113 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,940,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $281,229,000 after purchasing an additional 369,317 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 3,883,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $277,146,000 after purchasing an additional 217,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 3,647,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,174,000 after purchasing an additional 150,414 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, 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.