Kroger (NYSE:KR) Earns Neutral Rating from Citigroup

Citigroup restated their neutral rating on shares of Kroger (NYSE:KR) in a research report report published on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Citigroup currently has a $61.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.80.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $58.68 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. Kroger has a 12 month low of $44.48 and a 12 month high of $63.59. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $60.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.74.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly 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. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Kroger will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In related news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total transaction of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,743,103.14. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in KR. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Kroger by 40.7% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 90,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,498,000 after purchasing an additional 26,079 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 95.2% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 23,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,177,000 after buying an additional 11,491 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its position in shares of Kroger by 60.9% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 131,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,556,000 after buying an additional 49,704 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Kroger by 96.6% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,689,000 after buying an additional 2,643,811 shares during the period. Finally, AXA S.A. grew its stake in Kroger by 74.7% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 230,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,507,000 after acquiring an additional 98,546 shares during the period. 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.