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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on BJ shares. Gordon Haskett upgraded 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 report on Thursday, May 23rd. Barclays raised their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $81.00 to $87.00 in a report on Monday, April 8th. DA Davidson increased their target price on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on BJ’s Wholesale Club from $93.00 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.06.

Insider Activity

In other BJ’s Wholesale Club news, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.70, for a total transaction of $843,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 500,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,410,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other BJ’s Wholesale Club 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 transaction of $1,213,116.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,507,284. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.70, for a total transaction of $843,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 500,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,410,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 50,684 shares of company stock worth $4,160,168. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BJ’s Wholesale Club

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BJ. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 11.0% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 293.5% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its position in BJ’s Wholesale Club by 19.4% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 129,997 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,834,000 after purchasing an additional 21,156 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club in the first quarter valued at approximately $378,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of BJ’s Wholesale Club by 183.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 24,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,849,000 after buying an additional 15,813 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.60% of the company’s stock.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE BJ traded up $0.47 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $86.10. 699,811 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,504,145. The company has a market cap of $11.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.97. BJ’s Wholesale Club has a 1-year low of $62.28 and a 1-year high of $90.43.

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

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.