Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Kroger (NYSE:KR) Stock

Kroger (NYSE:KR) had its price objective upped by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $58.00 to $62.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price indicates a potential upside of 1.17% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on KR. Roth Mkm upped their price target 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. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $59.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.67.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KR traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $61.28. The stock had a trading volume of 4,489,527 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,686,450. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $57.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.65. The company has a market capitalization of $44.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.48. Kroger has a fifty-two week low of $43.51 and a fifty-two week high of $62.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Kroger will post 4.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In related news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total transaction of $167,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at $4,142,036.44. The trade was a 3.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total value of $167,265.70. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 47,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,644,743.01. This represents a 5.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 58,821 shares of company stock valued at $3,445,490. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position 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 valued at $1,894,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,110,681 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kroger by 0.8% in the third 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 lifted its holdings in Kroger by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,591,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $678,562,000 after buying an additional 723,771 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Kroger by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,759,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $387,456,000 after buying an additional 917,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position 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 worth $268,689,000 after purchasing an additional 2,643,811 shares in 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.