BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) Shares Up 4.6% Following Earnings Beat

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ)’s share price rose 4.6% on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $85.11 and last traded at $84.16. Approximately 415,075 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 1,455,895 shares. The stock had previously closed at $80.49.

The company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.02. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a return on equity of 37.78% and a net margin of 2.59%. The business had revenue of $4.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen raised their price objective on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised BJ’s Wholesale Club from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $81.00 to $87.00 in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday. DA Davidson raised their price objective on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Joseph Mcgrail sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $77,370.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,905 shares in the company, valued at $998,459.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other BJ’s Wholesale Club news, SVP Joseph Mcgrail sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 12,905 shares in the company, valued at $998,459.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.70, for a total value of $843,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 500,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,410,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 98,840 shares of company stock worth $7,408,605 over the last 90 days. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 812,783 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,180,000 after acquiring an additional 20,820 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in BJ’s Wholesale Club during the fourth quarter worth $892,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 46.0% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 54,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,603,000 after acquiring an additional 17,024 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in BJ’s Wholesale Club during the fourth quarter worth $5,745,000. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. acquired a new position in BJ’s Wholesale Club during the fourth quarter worth $2,883,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.60% of the company’s stock.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $76.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.84. The stock has a market cap of $11.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

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.