BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ – Get Rating) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the nineteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $66.25.

Several research firms recently commented on BJ. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in a report on Monday, May 23rd. Citigroup raised their target price on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $70.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday, May 20th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group cut their target price on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 4th.

Shares of NYSE:BJ traded up $0.77 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $58.63. The company had a trading volume of 1,195,693 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,776,623. The stock has a market cap of $7.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.51. BJ’s Wholesale Club has a 52-week low of $44.17 and a 52-week high of $74.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $64.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.96.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 19th. The company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $4.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.24 billion. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a net margin of 2.65% and a return on equity of 77.13%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.72 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that BJ’s Wholesale Club will post 3.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

In other news, Director Kenneth M. Parent sold 35,004 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.42, for a total transaction of $2,359,969.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,143 shares in the company, valued at $953,521.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club during the fourth quarter worth about $225,000. Comerica Bank boosted its position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 33.5% during the third quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 109,086 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,690,000 after acquiring an additional 27,347 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its position in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 26.5% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 34,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,327,000 after purchasing an additional 7,290 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,706,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,290,000 after acquiring an additional 5,546 shares during the period. Finally, Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. raised its stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 37,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,535,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares during the period. 99.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About BJ’s Wholesale Club (Get Rating)

BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates warehouse clubs on the east coast of the United States. It provides perishable, general merchandise, gasoline, and other ancillary services. The company sells its products through the websites BJs.com, BerkleyJensen.com, Wellsleyfarms.com, and Delivery.bjs.com as well as the mobile app.

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