Kroger (NYSE:KR) Price Target Raised to $65.00

Kroger (NYSE:KR) had its price target hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $62.00 to $65.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim began coverage on Kroger in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.14.

Kroger Stock Performance

Kroger stock opened at $58.54 on Tuesday. Kroger has a 52-week low of $44.48 and a 52-week high of $63.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $60.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Kroger will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $1,167,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nexus Investment Management ULC increased its position in shares of Kroger by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 48,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,942,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. increased its holdings in Kroger by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 4,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC raised its position in Kroger by 0.6% in the third quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC now owns 31,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,808,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group boosted its stake in Kroger by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 5,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City Center Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Kroger by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. City Center Advisors LLC now owns 5,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

About Kroger

The Kroger Co operates as a food and drug retailer in the United States. The company operates combination food and drug stores, multi-department stores, marketplace stores, and price impact warehouses. Its combination food and drug stores offer natural food and organic sections, pharmacies, general merchandise, pet centers, fresh seafood, and organic produce; and multi-department stores provide apparel, home fashion and furnishings, outdoor living, electronics, automotive products, and toys.