Kroger (NYSE:KR) Price Target Raised to $75.00

Kroger (NYSE:KR) had its target price upped by research analysts at Bank of America from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Bank of America‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 19.81% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms have also commented on KR. Melius Research initiated coverage on Kroger in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $59.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.43.

Kroger Price Performance

NYSE KR traded up $1.64 on Friday, reaching $62.60. 20,962,648 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,810,508. Kroger has a 12 month low of $44.48 and a 12 month high of $63.59. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.13. The stock has a market cap of $45.29 billion, a PE ratio of 16.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.48.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The business 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%. The company’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at $4,142,036.44. The trade was a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 188,438 shares of company stock worth $11,657,598 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kroger

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 884,609 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,688,000 after purchasing an additional 40,914 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kroger by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 13,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Kroger by 14.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,269,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,426,000 after purchasing an additional 281,878 shares during the last quarter. Tri Ri Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in Kroger during the third quarter worth approximately $4,037,000. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Kroger by 3.7% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 10,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $619,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

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.