BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ) Short Interest Update

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,230,000 shares, a decline of 7.7% from the May 31st total of 12,170,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,660,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.8 days. Approximately 8.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BJ’s Wholesale Club has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.06.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.90, for a total value of $955,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 467,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,651,124.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Jeff Desroches sold 14,106 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,213,116.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 87,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,507,284. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.90, for a total transaction of $955,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 467,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,651,124.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 50,684 shares of company stock valued at $4,160,168. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BJ’s Wholesale Club

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $214,000. Mariner LLC increased its stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 16,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,163,000 after acquiring an additional 668 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 28,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,017,000 after purchasing an additional 928 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $600,000. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 58,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,170,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 98.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Stock Performance

NYSE:BJ traded up $0.47 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $86.10. 699,811 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,504,145. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.24, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.14. BJ’s Wholesale Club has a 52-week low of $62.28 and a 52-week high of $90.43. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $83.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.97.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.02. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a return on equity of 37.78% and a net margin of 2.59%. The firm had revenue of $4.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that BJ’s Wholesale Club will post 3.91 earnings per share for the current year.

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.