Kroger (NYSE:KR) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Evercore ISI Analyst Says

Kroger (NYSE:KR) had its target price upped by equities researchers at Evercore ISI from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI’s price target indicates a potential upside of 15.38% from the stock’s current price.

KR has been the topic of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.00.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $65.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $47.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.20, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $60.75 and its 200 day moving average is $57.36. Kroger has a 1-year low of $44.49 and a 1-year high of $65.75.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total value of $1,556,446.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 115,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,965,563.32. This trade represents a 18.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total transaction of $8,379,373.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its stake in Kroger by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $410,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH grew its position in shares of Kroger by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 23,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,432,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 4,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Nexus Investment Management ULC lifted its stake in Kroger by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 48,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,942,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. increased its position in shares of Kroger by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 4,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.