BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with an average price target of $111.00 for the stock.
• The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by 23%.
• Insider activity includes major sales by executives, with EVP Paul Cichocki selling 58,436 shares for approximately $6.43 million and CEO Robert W. Eddy selling 17,900 shares valued at around $1.92 million.

Shares of BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the nineteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $111.00.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Roth Capital restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $106.00 price objective (up from $101.00) on shares of BJ's Wholesale Club in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Loop Capital restated a "hold" rating and issued a $120.00 price objective (up from $110.00) on shares of BJ's Wholesale Club in a report on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $135.00 price objective (up from $129.00) on shares of BJ's Wholesale Club in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $127.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of BJ's Wholesale Club in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of BJ's Wholesale Club from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd.

BJ's Wholesale Club Stock Down 0.3%

BJ stock opened at $108.19 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $108.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. BJ's Wholesale Club has a 52 week low of $76.33 and a 52 week high of $121.10.

BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.23. BJ's Wholesale Club had a net margin of 2.76% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The company had revenue of $5.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. BJ's Wholesale Club's revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that BJ's Wholesale Club will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at BJ's Wholesale Club

In other BJ's Wholesale Club news, EVP Paul Cichocki sold 58,436 shares of BJ's Wholesale Club stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.08, for a total transaction of $6,432,634.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 114,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,563,100.16. The trade was a 33.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 17,900 shares of BJ's Wholesale Club stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.08, for a total transaction of $1,916,732.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 368,333 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $39,441,097.64. The trade was a 4.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 138,061 shares of company stock worth $15,027,745 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BJ's Wholesale Club

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its stake in BJ's Wholesale Club by 0.8% during the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 4,366,509 shares of the company's stock worth $498,219,000 after buying an additional 35,130 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club by 65.9% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,186,760 shares of the company's stock valued at $477,709,000 after purchasing an additional 1,662,415 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club by 12.7% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,639,011 shares of the company's stock valued at $392,395,000 after purchasing an additional 410,326 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club by 0.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,997,697 shares of the company's stock valued at $323,242,000 after purchasing an additional 11,203 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club by 1.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,352,465 shares of the company's stock valued at $253,709,000 after purchasing an additional 29,076 shares during the period. 98.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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