Evercore ISI Boosts BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) Price Target to $89.00

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) had its price target lifted by Evercore ISI from $86.00 to $89.00 in a report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an in-line rating on the stock.

BJ has been the topic of a number of other reports. Gordon Haskett upgraded BJ’s Wholesale Club from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price target for the company from $81.00 to $87.00 in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $82.06.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Price Performance

NYSE:BJ opened at $88.49 on Thursday. BJ’s Wholesale Club has a 52 week low of $61.06 and a 52 week high of $90.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.74 billion, a PE ratio of 22.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.24. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $81.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.91.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.02. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a return on equity of 37.78% and a net margin of 2.59%. The firm had revenue of $4.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.86 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that BJ’s Wholesale Club will post 3.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.70, for a total transaction of $843,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 500,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,410,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.70, for a total value of $843,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 500,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,410,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Monica Schwartz sold 13,578 shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.81, for a total transaction of $1,070,082.18. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 13,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,067,481.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,684 shares of company stock valued at $3,204,268. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of BJ’s Wholesale Club

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 293.5% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 19.4% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 129,997 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,834,000 after purchasing an additional 21,156 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in the first quarter worth $378,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 183.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 24,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,849,000 after acquiring an additional 15,813 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in the first quarter worth $140,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.60% of the company’s stock.

About BJ’s Wholesale Club

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.