BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) Given New $72.00 Price Target at Citigroup

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) had its target price lowered by Citigroup from $74.00 to $72.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on BJ. Credit Suisse Group cut their price objective on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $80.00 to $73.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. UBS Group cut their price objective on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $83.00 to $81.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded BJ’s Wholesale Club from a buy rating to a hold rating and cut their price objective for the company from $79.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Monday, November 6th. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on BJ’s Wholesale Club in a report on Thursday, September 14th. They issued an outperform rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BJ’s Wholesale Club has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $71.31.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BJ opened at $63.59 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $69.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $8.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.09, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.37. BJ’s Wholesale Club has a 1 year low of $60.33 and a 1 year high of $78.88.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 17th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.03. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a return on equity of 47.80% and a net margin of 2.61%. The company had revenue of $4.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that BJ’s Wholesale Club will post 3.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BJ’s Wholesale Club news, EVP William C. Werner sold 890 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.47, for a total transaction of $64,498.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,127,501.79. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Jeff Desroches sold 33,934 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.88, for a total value of $2,337,373.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 80,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,571,152.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP William C. Werner sold 890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.47, for a total value of $64,498.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,357 shares in the company, valued at $2,127,501.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 118,653 shares of company stock worth $8,306,084. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BJ’s Wholesale Club

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in the first quarter valued at about $268,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 44.3% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 7,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $487,000 after buying an additional 2,203 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 104.7% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 10,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $741,000 after buying an additional 5,607 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 7.4% in the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 12,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $843,000 after buying an additional 862 shares during the period. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can lifted its stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 7.7% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 74,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,143,000 after buying an additional 5,272 shares during the period. 98.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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 perishable, general merchandise, gasoline, coupon books, promotions, and other ancillary services. The company sells its products through the websites BJs.com, BerkleyJensen.com, and Wellsleyfarms.com, as well as the mobile app.