Kroger (NYSE:KR) Price Target Cut to $58.00 by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) had its target price cut by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $60.00 to $58.00 in a research report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

KR has been the subject of several other reports. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Kroger from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday. BNP Paribas restated an underperform rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Kroger from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $56.20.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $50.21 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.43. Kroger has a 1-year low of $42.10 and a 1-year high of $58.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $53.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.71.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $45.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.86 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 31.44% and a net margin of 1.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.51 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Kroger will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 6,616 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.69, for a total value of $368,445.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,615,091.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 6,616 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.69, for a total transaction of $368,445.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,615,091.02. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $832,800.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 77,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,313,681.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 55,796 shares of company stock worth $3,118,767. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kroger

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sanders Capital LLC raised its stake in Kroger by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 23,786,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,087,276,000 after acquiring an additional 1,123,427 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Kroger by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,453,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $660,653,000 after acquiring an additional 214,852 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Kroger by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,592,371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $575,546,000 after acquiring an additional 503,839 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Kroger by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,833,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,551,000 after acquiring an additional 511,978 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $229,863,000. Institutional investors 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.