BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $86.81, but opened at $88.75. BJ’s Wholesale Club shares last traded at $87.16, with a volume of 164,096 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BJ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on 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. Melius Research began coverage on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price target on the stock. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America cut their target price on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised BJ’s Wholesale Club from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BJ’s Wholesale Club currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.94.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.59 billion, a PE ratio of 21.91, a P/E/G ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.24. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.06.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.09. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a net margin of 2.62% and a return on equity of 36.12%. The company had revenue of $5.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. BJ’s Wholesale Club’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at BJ’s Wholesale Club

In related news, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.47, for a total transaction of $940,170.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 423,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,221,502.24. The trade was a 2.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Joseph Mcgrail sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.57, for a total transaction of $83,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,566 shares in the company, valued at $1,133,710.62. This represents a 6.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,818,390 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Creative Planning lifted its stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 10.7% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 9,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $817,000 after purchasing an additional 898 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 99.9% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 764,474 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,151,000 after acquiring an additional 382,114 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,439,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $531,118,000 after purchasing an additional 217,385 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 96.8% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 19,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,501,000 after purchasing an additional 9,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LVW Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in the second quarter worth approximately $589,000. 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, 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.