Kroger (NYSE:KR) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kroger (NYSE:KR) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Monday.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $59.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group raised their target price on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Kroger from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.79.

Kroger Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE KR opened at $61.15 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $44.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.48. Kroger has a fifty-two week low of $44.48 and a fifty-two week high of $63.59. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Kroger will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total transaction of $386,247.60. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $784,715.40. This trade represents a 32.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 202,370 shares of company stock valued at $12,530,170 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 6.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,894,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,110,681 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,019,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $914,795,000 after purchasing an additional 126,303 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Kroger by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,591,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $678,562,000 after purchasing an additional 723,771 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,759,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $387,456,000 after purchasing an additional 917,923 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,164,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,246,000 after purchasing an additional 37,222 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.