BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $118.67 and last traded at $116.41, with a volume of 317823 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $114.97.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BJ. Citigroup raised shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $80.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.82.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $15.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $106.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $95.94.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.07. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a net margin of 2.71% and a return on equity of 35.41%. The firm had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.29 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BJ’s Wholesale Club news, EVP William C. Werner sold 14,192 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.64, for a total transaction of $1,669,546.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,113 shares in the company, valued at $3,071,933.32. This represents a 35.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert Allan Steele sold 11,813 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.59, for a total transaction of $1,270,960.67. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,351 shares in the company, valued at $2,619,924.09. This represents a 32.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 46,005 shares of company stock valued at $5,148,708 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,330,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,218,000 after purchasing an additional 245,731 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in the third quarter valued at about $828,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 129.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 38,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,215,000 after buying an additional 21,957 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 278.6% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 53,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,822,000 after acquiring an additional 39,713 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in the fourth quarter worth about $307,000. Institutional investors own 98.60% of the company’s stock.

About BJ’s Wholesale Club

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc engages in the operation of membership warehouse clubs. Its product categories include grocery, household and pet, television and electronics, furniture, computer and tablets, patio and outdoor living, lawn and garden, baby and kids, toys, home, health and beauty, appliances, and jewelry.