Kroger (NYSE:KR) PT Lowered to $57.00 at Morgan Stanley

Kroger (NYSE:KR) had its target price reduced by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $58.00 to $57.00 in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target indicates a potential upside of 13.52% from the company’s current price.

KR has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, June 17th. BNP Paribas restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.30.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR opened at $50.21 on Monday. Kroger has a 12 month low of $42.10 and a 12 month high of $58.34. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.14, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Kroger had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 29.89%. The firm had revenue of $45.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.51 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Kroger will post 4.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 6,616 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.69, for a total value of $368,445.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,615,091.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $832,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 77,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,313,681.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 6,616 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.69, for a total transaction of $368,445.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,958 shares in the company, valued at $2,615,091.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 55,796 shares of company stock worth $3,118,767. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kroger

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KR. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter worth $229,863,000. Maj Invest Holding A S purchased a new position in Kroger during the 1st quarter worth $185,913,000. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Kroger by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 23,786,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,087,276,000 after acquiring an additional 1,123,427 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new position in Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth $42,220,000. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth about $39,619,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.