Kroger (NYSE:KR) Price Target Raised to $75.00

Kroger (NYSE:KR) had its price target boosted by Bank of America from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on KR. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Melius Research started coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.43.

Kroger Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $61.85 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.36, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.48. Kroger has a 12-month low of $44.48 and a 12-month high of $63.59. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $58.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

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

Kroger declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total value of $386,247.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $784,715.40. The trade was a 32.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $1,040,302.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 202,370 shares of company stock worth $12,530,170. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mendel Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Kroger by 0.6% during the 3rd 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. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.1% during the second quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 16,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $826,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC grew its position in Kroger by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Kroger by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 11,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $672,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. Finally, M3 Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Kroger by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. M3 Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. 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.