Jefferies Financial Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) Stock

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) had its target price upped by Jefferies Financial Group from $105.00 to $110.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective points to a potential upside of 18.55% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Melius Research started coverage on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $90.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised BJ’s Wholesale Club from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.40.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Stock Performance

Shares of BJ stock traded up $7.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $92.79. 5,780,627 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,492,726. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.43, a P/E/G ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 0.76. BJ’s Wholesale Club has a 12-month low of $63.73 and a 12-month high of $94.67. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $85.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.15.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ’s Wholesale Club

In other news, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.75, for a total value of $921,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 434,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,413,830. This trade represents a 2.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Joseph Mcgrail sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.57, for a total transaction of $83,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,566 shares in the company, valued at $1,133,710.62. This trade represents a 6.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,818,390 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ’s Wholesale Club

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 7.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,357,118 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,184,175,000 after buying an additional 966,528 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,439,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $531,118,000 after acquiring an additional 217,385 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 158.9% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 4,189,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,044,000 after purchasing an additional 2,571,709 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 1.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,045,590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,680,000 after purchasing an additional 45,288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 60.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,387,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,929,000 after buying an additional 896,263 shares in the last quarter. 98.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.