BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ) Short Interest Up 16.2% in November

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 8,380,000 shares, a growth of 16.2% from the November 15th total of 7,210,000 shares. Approximately 6.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,450,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.8 days.

Insider Transactions at BJ’s Wholesale Club

In other BJ’s Wholesale Club news, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.47, for a total value of $940,170.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 423,792 shares in the company, valued at $36,221,502.24. This trade represents a 2.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BJ. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its position in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,371,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,094,000 after buying an additional 136,082 shares during the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club in the third quarter worth about $714,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,763,931 shares of the company’s stock worth $408,926,000 after purchasing an additional 337,217 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 66.9% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 37,016 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,053,000 after purchasing an additional 14,831 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in the 3rd quarter valued at about $55,000. 98.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Price Performance

NYSE BJ traded up $0.05 on Monday, reaching $97.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,407,481 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,506,147. BJ’s Wholesale Club has a 52 week low of $64.06 and a 52 week high of $100.74. 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 firm has a market cap of $12.89 billion, a PE ratio of 23.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 0.29. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $90.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.11.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.29. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a return on equity of 35.41% and a net margin of 2.71%. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that BJ’s Wholesale Club will post 3.95 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on BJ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Melius Research initiated coverage on BJ’s Wholesale Club in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price objective for the company. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.56.

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.