Kroger (NYSE:KR) Earns “Neutral” Rating from Citigroup

Kroger (NYSE:KR)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Citigroup in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $61.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup’s target price indicates a potential upside of 4.21% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group upped their price target on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.80.

Kroger Price Performance

Kroger stock opened at $58.54 on Friday. Kroger has a one year low of $44.48 and a one year high of $63.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.49, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.48. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $60.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.73.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Kroger will post 4.44 EPS 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 buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at $3,304,366.08. The trade was a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at $8,444,361.80. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kroger

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Kroger by 40.7% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 90,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,498,000 after purchasing an additional 26,079 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 95.2% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 23,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,177,000 after acquiring an additional 11,491 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its holdings in Kroger by 60.9% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 131,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,556,000 after acquiring an additional 49,704 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Kroger by 96.6% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,689,000 after acquiring an additional 2,643,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AXA S.A. lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 74.7% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 230,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,507,000 after purchasing an additional 98,546 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.