Jefferies Financial Group Issues Positive Forecast for BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) Stock Price

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) had its price target hoisted by stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $105.00 to $110.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 18.55% from the stock’s previous close.

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

BJ’s Wholesale Club Stock Performance

NYSE:BJ traded up $7.09 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $92.79. 5,780,627 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,492,726. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.15. BJ’s Wholesale Club has a 52 week low of $63.73 and a 52 week high of $94.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.43, a P/E/G ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.21 billion during 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 revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BJ’s Wholesale Club will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BJ’s Wholesale Club

In other BJ’s Wholesale Club news, SVP Joseph Mcgrail sold 1,000 shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.57, for a total value of $83,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,133,710.62. The trade was a 6.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.40, for a total value of $873,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 445,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,395,884.80. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 34,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,818,390. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BJ’s Wholesale Club

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Davis Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club during the third quarter worth about $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 375.6% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BJ’s Wholesale Club during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club during the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. Hedge funds and other 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.