StockNews.com Lowers Kroger (NYSE:KR) to Buy

Kroger (NYSE:KR) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on KR. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, September 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.09.

Kroger Trading Up 0.5 %

KR traded up $0.28 during trading on Monday, hitting $56.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,771,347 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,001,125. Kroger has a twelve month low of $42.10 and a twelve month high of $58.34. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $53.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $40.56 billion, a PE ratio of 19.18, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.47.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The firm had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Kroger will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total value of $109,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $984,975.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $229,863,000. Maj Invest Holding A S bought a new stake in Kroger in the first quarter valued at $185,913,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 96.6% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,689,000 after acquiring an additional 2,643,811 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 698.8% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,878,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,792,000 after acquiring an additional 1,643,307 shares during the period. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Kroger by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 23,786,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,087,276,000 after acquiring an additional 1,123,427 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.