BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) Upgraded to “Neutral” by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) from an underweight rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $78.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $76.00.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $89.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded BJ’s Wholesale Club from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $92.00 in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $86.07.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Trading Down 4.0 %

Shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club stock opened at $79.24 on Monday. BJ’s Wholesale Club has a 1 year low of $63.08 and a 1 year high of $92.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.14. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $86.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.92. The company has a market capitalization of $10.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.23.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.09. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a return on equity of 37.78% and a net margin of 2.59%. The company had revenue of $5.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BJ’s Wholesale Club will post 3.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Graham Luce sold 16,596 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.15, for a total value of $1,512,725.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,131 shares in the company, valued at $1,288,040.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Graham Luce sold 16,596 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.15, for a total value of $1,512,725.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,288,040.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Joseph Mcgrail sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.57, for a total value of $83,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,566 shares in the company, valued at $1,133,710.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 68,438 shares of company stock worth $6,107,538 over the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BJ’s Wholesale Club

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 812,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,180,000 after acquiring an additional 20,820 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in BJ’s Wholesale Club in the fourth quarter valued at about $892,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 46.0% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 54,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,603,000 after purchasing an additional 17,024 shares in the last quarter. Thematics Asset Management grew its stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Thematics Asset Management now owns 66,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,435,000 after purchasing an additional 992 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,883,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.60% of the company’s stock.

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.