Brokerages Set The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) PT at $65.79

Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $65.93.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, 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 note on Friday, December 20th.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $59.11 on Friday. Kroger has a 1-year low of $44.48 and a 1-year high of $63.59. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $59.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released 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 firm had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The business’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Kroger will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the business’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 transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,304,366.08. The trade was a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Kroger by 218.8% in the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the third quarter worth $43,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kroger Company Profile

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.