Telsey Advisory Group Reiterates Outperform Rating for Kroger (NYSE:KR)

Kroger (NYSE:KR)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by analysts at Telsey Advisory Group in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 13.18% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on KR. UBS Group raised their price target on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.79.

Kroger Stock Up 1.5 %

KR opened at $61.85 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $44.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $58.84 and its 200 day moving average is $55.22. Kroger has a fifty-two week low of $44.48 and a fifty-two week high of $63.59.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $784,715.40. This represents a 32.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 202,370 shares of company stock valued at $12,530,170. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

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

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.