The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $65.80.

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. 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. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock.

Kroger Stock Up 1.3 %

KR stock opened at $61.13 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $44.24 billion, a PE ratio of 16.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.48. 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 has a 52 week low of $44.48 and a 52 week high of $63.59. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.96.

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 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Kroger will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at $13,743,103.14. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 115,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,965,563.32. This represents a 18.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KR. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Adirondack Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1,628.1% in the 4th quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 218.8% in the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Hedge funds and other 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.