BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,460,000 shares, a decline of 15.4% from the February 28th total of 7,640,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,710,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days. Currently, 5.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Activity at BJ’s Wholesale Club

In other news, Director Robert Allan Steele sold 11,813 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.59, for a total transaction of $1,270,960.67. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,351 shares in the company, valued at $2,619,924.09. The trade was a 32.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP William C. Werner sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.41, for a total transaction of $2,208,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,308 shares in the company, valued at $3,456,716.28. This trade represents a 38.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of BJ’s Wholesale Club

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BJ. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club during the fourth quarter valued at about $135,344,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 658.6% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,523,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,100,000 after acquiring an additional 1,322,425 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club during the 4th quarter worth approximately $85,550,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 3,526.9% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 595,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,214,000 after purchasing an additional 579,150 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,268,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,775,000 after purchasing an additional 504,958 shares in the last quarter. 98.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on BJ shares. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in a research note on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group boosted their price target on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $108.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Thursday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $110.82.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BJ traded up $3.26 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $118.23. 1,773,668 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,603,833. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $106.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $95.54. BJ’s Wholesale Club has a 1-year low of $71.81 and a 1-year high of $118.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.42, a PEG ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.14.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.29 billion. BJ’s Wholesale Club had a return on equity of 35.41% and a net margin of 2.71%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BJ’s Wholesale Club will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Company Profile

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc engages in the operation of membership warehouse clubs. Its product categories include grocery, household and pet, television and electronics, furniture, computer and tablets, patio and outdoor living, lawn and garden, baby and kids, toys, home, health and beauty, appliances, and jewelry.