BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) Upgraded to Buy at Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ - Free Report) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $130.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $115.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Evercore ISI cut their price objective 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, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of BJ's Wholesale Club in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Barclays lifted their price target on BJ's Wholesale Club from $80.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of BJ's Wholesale Club from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of BJ's Wholesale Club from $102.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $110.82.

Remove Ads

BJ's Wholesale Club Stock Performance

BJ's Wholesale Club stock traded up $0.18 during trading on Thursday, hitting $114.71. The stock had a trading volume of 1,055,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,854,573. The stock has a market cap of $15.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.54. The stock's 50 day moving average is $107.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. BJ's Wholesale Club has a 1 year low of $71.81 and a 1 year high of $120.43.

BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.29 billion. BJ's Wholesale Club had a net margin of 2.71% and a return on equity of 35.41%. As a group, analysts predict that BJ's Wholesale Club will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP William C. Werner sold 14,192 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.64, for a total value of $1,669,546.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,113 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,071,933.32. This represents a 35.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Allan Steele sold 11,813 shares of BJ's Wholesale Club stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.59, for a total value of $1,270,960.67. Following 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 ownership of the stock. 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. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of BJ's Wholesale Club

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in BJ's Wholesale Club by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,645 shares of the company's stock valued at $188,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club by 17,333.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 689,164 shares of the company's stock valued at $78,634,000 after purchasing an additional 685,211 shares during the last quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,047,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in BJ's Wholesale Club by 25.2% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 865 shares of the company's stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 111 Capital purchased a new stake in BJ's Wholesale Club during the 4th quarter valued at about $352,000. 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.