BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ) Short Interest Down 8.3% in March

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,190,000 shares, a decline of 8.3% from the March 15th total of 8,930,000 shares. Approximately 6.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,370,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.0 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BJ’s Wholesale Club news, Director Christopher J. Baldwin sold 73,062 shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.95, for a total transaction of $5,402,934.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 173,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,815,091.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Christopher J. Baldwin sold 73,062 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.95, for a total value of $5,402,934.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 173,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,815,091.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.70, for a total value of $843,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 500,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,410,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 97,840 shares of company stock worth $7,331,235. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BJ’s Wholesale Club

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BJ. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BJ’s Wholesale Club during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 45.3% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club in the second quarter worth about $37,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Fortis Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BJ’s Wholesale Club during the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.60% of the company’s stock.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Price Performance

BJ’s Wholesale Club stock traded up $0.10 on Tuesday, reaching $76.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,002,354 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,392,168. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $73.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $10.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.70, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.26. BJ’s Wholesale Club has a twelve month low of $60.33 and a twelve month high of $80.42.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $5.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a net margin of 2.64% and a return on equity of 40.84%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. Equities analysts expect that BJ’s Wholesale Club will post 3.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BJ shares. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $79.00 to $78.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Gordon Haskett downgraded BJ’s Wholesale Club from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $70.00 price objective (down from $73.00) on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $81.00 to $87.00 in a report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BJ’s Wholesale Club presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.40.

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.