BJ's Wholesale Club's (BJ) fiscal fourth-quarter earnings are expected to be in line with Wall Street's projections, with membership momentum seen maintained despite its recent fee hike, UBS Securities said Tuesday.

The warehouse club operator is scheduled to post results Thursday. UBS raised its earnings expectations to $0.87 a share from $0.83. The brokerage said its latest outlook matches the Street's views.

BJ's investments in perishables and the capture of sales from closed Stop & Shop stores likely boosted its grocery sales. Improved general merchandise assortment ahead of the holiday season likely also supported its performance, though "any upside on this front was probably capped by a pressured consumer backdrop," UBS analysts, including Mark Carden, said in a note to clients.

The brokerage is projecting a 3% growth in same-store sales in the quarter, excluding fuel, compared with the consensus calling for a 3.1% gain.

Membership fee income likely grew 8% year over year, exceeding the Street's estimate for a 7.6% increase, according to the note. The metric is likely to be mainly supported by the company's "continued customer acquisition efforts" and faster growth in its higher-tier membership, the analysts said, adding that they don't expect much impact from the company's fee increase in the quarter due to the timing.

In November, the company said it would lift the base cost by $5 to $60 annually and raise the Club+ tier by $10 to $120, effective Jan. 1.

The company's shares were up 3.2% in Tuesday late-afternoon trade.

While BJ's likely expanded its gasoline gallon market share in the quarter, its fuel profitability is expected to have come in "a bit softer than planned," the analysts said.

For the year ahead, the company is most likely to guide top-line growth that's in line with its long-term algorithm of low- to mid-single-digit same-store sales increase and a mid-single-digit revenue gain. On the bottom-line, BJ's is likely to point closer to the lower end of its EPS algorithm of high-single-digit to low-double-digit growth, according to UBS.

The brokerage has a buy rating and a $108 price target on the stock.

"We believe BJ's value proposition, improving membership metrics, and successful store openings set the warehouse club up well for sustainable (and) more predictable growth going forward," the analysts said.